Northwest communities, like Meadow Lake and Spiritwood will receive their share of the PST sooner than usual to help with cash flow issues brought on by the pandemic.
On May 7, the Government of Saskatchewan announced it would give communities the full amount in June instead of having payments spread out throughout the year.
With COVID-19 causing challenges for local cities and towns, local mayors are grateful at the prospects of receiving all their funding in one lump sum.
Diana Burton, Meadow Lake’s city manager, said the city has pushed property tax payments to the end of October so receiving municipal revenue sharing funds in one lump sum will help an anticipated cash flow shortage.
“It won't fix all of it but it'll definitely go a long way to helping us, so we appreciate the province making that decision.”
Spiritwood Mayor Gary von Holwede said receiving the funds at one time will not impact the way they do business since all the municipal revenue sharing spending decisions have been made during the yearly budget discussion. This does mean that funding can be spent when it comes along, he said. Municipal revenue will not be going anywhere, von Holwede said.
According to a media release, Saskatchewan cities will receive $133.2 million on a per capita basis, with $45.1 million going to towns, villages and resort villages. Rural municipalities will have $79.26 million divided amongst them and northern communities will see $20.6 million.
