An interest-free cash advance from the federal and provincial governments is needed if rural communities and their local governments are to remain viable, say the heads of prairie municipalities.
Without an injection of cash to help offset the hurt in rural communities caused by the closing of the border after bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered in Alberta, municipalities won’t be able to provide basic services in rural areas, said Neal Hardy, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities.
“There are a lot of rural businesses hurting and in some cases some municipalities will not be able to provide basic services if they can’t collect basic taxes,” he said during a telephone news conference.
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“We have some concerns about how we’re going to maintain our rural communities out there.”
The Prairie Association of Rural Municipalities, made up of SARM, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities and the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, is calling for a cash advance of $300 to $400 per animal to help cattle producers pay their bills, including their tax bills.
The cash injection would give a much-needed boost to rural areas, said Hardy, who worried ripples from the border closure will have lasting effects for municipalities and their businesses.
“We need a cash injection immediately,” said Stuart Briese, president of the AMM, pointing to the Interlake area of northern Manitoba where most municipalities are dependent on livestock.
“We have to have some money flowing or the whole works of us are in a serious situation,” said Briese.
There are no statistics on how many producers haven’t paid their municipal taxes. In Alberta, tax collection occurs from June to October. In Manitoba, most taxes are collected in September and October and in Saskatchewan most taxes are not due until December.
Jack Hayden, president of the AAMD&C, said delinquent tax accounts in the County of Ponoka have jumped from one percent to 10 percent this year.
In the County of Lethbridge, where the majority of Alberta’s feedlots are located, reeve David Oseen said he has not seen a decrease in the amount of taxes collected.
“The percentage of taxes paid is the same as other years.”
Lethbridge county did put on hold its plan to collect about $120,000 for a report on an additional tax for intensive livestock operations, he said.
For all three prairie municipalities, road building and maintenance are the largest parts of their budget.
Road maintenance and construction can be put off for a while, but it’s not long before the roads become unsafe for rural drivers, Hayden said.
