FOMG webinar: Municipal infrastructure funding

The next Future of Municipal Government (FOMG) online seminar is set for September 8 at 3 p.m. 

The Zoom session will feature authors of the forthcoming FOMG paper on Provincial Transfers and Financing Municipal Infrastructure in Alberta.

The paper examines the hottest trends in infrastructure expenditures and finances and proposes a new system of provincial transfers that includes: 

• Matching grants to municipalities for spending on infrastructure, which directly benefit the broader region and generate fiscal benefits for the provincial government from increases in economic activity and tax revenues.
• Grants to municipalities with deficient tax bases.
• A separate capital transfer program for summer villages, special areas and improvement districts given their unique characteristics. 
• Funding municipal transfers through the provincial property tax.

While the details of proposed grants for capital projects and municipalities with deficient tax bases do not align exactly with Alberta Municipalities' advocacy for non-competitive, predictable transfers through the Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF), their concepts do align with principles we are pursuing through our work with RMA on the LGFF allocation formula.

Based on input from members, Alberta Municipalities' goals are that the LGFF allocation formula should:

• Account for the scope of existing infrastructure and growth pressures in each municipality.
• Account for each municipality’s fiscal capacity.
• Support the principles of effective asset management.

In addition, ABmunis members have long identified issues with how provincial property taxes are collected and allocated. The paper’s proposal to earmark revenue from provincial property taxes to municipalities is sure to pique members’ interest.

Register today to take part in this important conversation.