Resolution slate set for AMM convention

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This article was published 24/11/2018 (1951 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hundreds of municipal officials will gather inside Winnipeg’s RBC Convention Centre this week for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities annual convention, where a number of resolutions from the Southeast will be debated.

In an unusual move, dozens of municipalities from across the province have joined forces to sponsor a resolution calling on Manitoba Municipal Relations to undo changes to its road and bridge program.

The grant provides 50-50 cost-sharing for municipal infrastructure projects, but this year’s total available funding dropped to $2.25 million from $14 million when the province announced it would roll the fund into the federal Investing in Canada program.

Former funding levels should be restored, the resolution argues, as the program was a dependable source of funding each year for a variety of essential infrastructure projects.

The RM of Springfield has sponsored more resolutions than any other municipality in the Southeast.

Springfield wants the province to make grants based on tax notices, also known as grants-in-lieu, equivalent to 90 percent of taxation by 2023. Russell Phillips, Springfield’s chief administrative officer, explained rail and utility properties have increased in value over time, but their grants-in-lieu remain governed by outdated agreements.

Springfield also wants the freedom to impose taxation rate ranges that vary by neighbourhood for each residential, commercial, and agricultural taxation category by 2020, something Phillips said would allow council to more precisely address huge differences in property values between its eastern and western edges.

The aggregate-rich municipality also wants the province to end the aggregate industry’s exemption from the Sustainable Development Act, to ensure groundwater isn’t contaminated by future extractions that dip below the groundwater level.

Carrying forward a concern from last year, Springfield will also press for additional funds for watershed districts, to ensure retention and drainage infrastructure can handle a 100-year flood event by 2040.

Springfield is also targeting clauses in the Traffic and Transportation Modernization Act that allow the province to download responsibilities for provincial roads and trunk highways onto municipalities.

Lastly, Springfield also wants the AMM to create a searchable database for resolutions, to allow the public and municipal officials to better track their progress.

The RM of Ste Anne will spearhead a resolution that would introduce procedures and timelines for supplemental property assessments to ensure consistency for all property owners. Every two years, the province gives municipalities a listing of supplemental assessments, but doesn’t tell municipalities when the corresponding taxes must be imposed, the resolution states.

Fearing more changes to rural health care, including the closure of smaller hospitals, the Village of St Pierre has drafted a resolution asking the province to work with RMs to find service delivery options that are both innovative and sustainable.

Several other resolutions that originate outside the Southeast also hold local implications.

The RM of Dauphin wants the province to enhance rural transportation programs for seniors and the mobility disadvantaged, and tie funding to inflation.

An RM of Yellowhead resolution asks Manitoba Infrastructure to allow the placement of electronic speed display boards along provincial highways within municipal boundaries, to deter speeding.

A total of 33 resolutions and eight standing policy recommendations will be put forward at the three-day convention, which begins Monday.

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