AUMA continues to seek equitable long-term infrastructure funding for members

In December, AUMA updated members on our work to secure a new infrastructure funding agreement to replace the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI). Since then, AUMA and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) have collaborated in active negotiations with the province to reach an agreement that is equitable to the City Charters Fiscal Framework. We continue to seek a similar legislated framework that will replace the MSI program with adequate levels of funding, increased predictability for multi-year financial planning and long-term growth of the funding in alignment with Alberta’s economy. This new infrastructure funding program will begin in the 2022 fiscal year for municipalities.

In the meantime, Alberta Municipal Affairs will be asking all municipalities to sign an amendment to your Memorandum of Agreement for MSI funding. This amendment is necessary as the existing agreements will expire on March 31, 2019. The updated agreement will allow the Government of Alberta to fulfill its promise to deliver the full $11.3 billion commitment of MSI funding by the end of the province’s 2021-22 fiscal year. This aligns with the commitments made by the province in Budget 2018.

We look forward to sharing more information at our Spring 2019 Municipal Leaders’ Caucus where we will discuss our work to secure a new infrastructure funding agreement as well as our review of potential allocation formulas.