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6 Tuesday May 12 2015 POLITICS MUNICIPAL By DALI CARMICHAEL The GNWT is revamping its community government funding system and after over a yearofvigorousconsultationwithtownsacross the North moving to a needs-based model has proved to be the popular option. HowthedepartmentofMunicipalandCom- munityAffairsMACAshoulduseitsmoneyto close an annual 40-million funding shortage forcommunitieswasoneofthemostanticipated discussionstotakeplaceatthe2015NWTAsso- ciationofCommunitiesannualgeneralmeeting held at the Katlodeeche reserve outside of Hay River last weekend. The current system is based on distribution formula funding comprised of four elements population a community infrastructure indi- cator the type of community governance and the Northern cost index. However with no ex- istingrecordstocalculatehowmuchinfrastruc- ture each community had the outcomes of the formula were sometimes skewed meaning the funding was not properly allocated. Aspartofafundingreviewongoingsince2014 a working group comprised of representatives from17NWTcommunitieshasbeenstrivingto develop a comprehensive list of infrastructure in each oftheterritoryscommunities.Theser- vices covered on this list include water sewer solid waste and protective services as well as recreationservicesandsupportforlocalgovern- ment operations. MACA is considering adding friendship centres to the list. With this list completed the group was able toquantifythescalgapmadeupofashortfall of 23.4 million for infrastructure alone plus a gap of 7.6 million to deliver programs and services andan 8.4-million hole in thepotfor water and sewer management. Alreadyforthe20152016yearthat40-mil- lion gap has been lessened by 3 million said Tom Williams deputy minister for MACA. The dip came as a result of this years annual submission for forest growth. Its a step in the right direction Williams said but there is still a long way to go. Current funding for community infrastruc- ture operations and management sits at about 106.4 million though the calculated total need is closer to 145.2 million according to the working group. Rightnowwithallofourseniormanagement weretryingtogoouttoeverycommunitytogive amoredetailedsummaryof...whattheoutcomes wereforthecommunitypublicconstructiondata factssaidGraceLau-amanagerofcommunity nancial services for MACA. We were able to get some cost data for our growth and our in- frastructure.Thisiswhatwehavebeenmissing from our current funding formula. The working group is recommending the GNWT take an indexing approach to the up- dated model so that funding levels are indica- tive of the cost of living. Inadditiontoeliminatingthefundinggapthe group hopes this new model will be more open andtransparentforitsstakeholdersthecitizens. One of the really big targets that we had is we wanted to have a method that was easily explainable easily understood and transparent so everyoneknowswherethenum- bers are coming from everyone can see better data to these values. We havent made a lot of change to water and sewer funding - we have made some criti- cal updates to the cost estimates - but another important change for this is the addition of the solidwastemanagementLau-asaid.Thisisan areathatwehaveanincreasingfocuson.Itsre- allycostlyforourcommunitygovernmentsand were aware how much its costing for landlls wereawareoftheneedforproperlandllmain- tenancesotheadditionofsolidwastemanage- mentandtheenvironmentalstewardshipfund is an important update to our funding review. MACA has also secured approval from the GNWTtoupdatethefederalinfrastructurefund- ingfromtheGasTaxandBuildingCanadaallo- cations to provide more support to communi- tiesthatneeditallowingthemtohaveapositive impact on a wider array of infrastructure. This change is expected to be implemented in 2016. Getting feedback from the communities has been important to the process said Eleanor Younganassistantdeputyministerforregional operations with MACA. Therewasalotofsupportthatthismodelal- lows us to identify costs that are appropriate to communitygovernmentsforcoreservicesbutit doesnt take any of the decision-making away shesaid.Itstillallowsyoutomovethatmoney aroundtoyourprioritiesanditgiveabasiclevel ofcomfortthattheamountofmoneyshouldbe able to provide the basic services that you have within your mandate. Mostcommunitiesexpressedsatisfactionwith theproposedmodelthoughasmanyas10com- munities are unhappy that they stand to have their funding either cut or frozen depending on how the new model is implemented. Under the proposed needs system they are currently receiving more than their fair share. One of the things that the premier commit- tedtolastyearwasthatwewouldntseeareduc- tionintheGNWTfundingthecapitalfunding but we also know that to implement this were going to need to nd new sources of funding Young said. That is something that we have to workwithintheGNWTscalframeworktog- ure out how to do that. Thelasttimethecommunityfundingapproach wasalteredwasin2008withtheimplementa- tion of the New Deal for the NWT. Theworkinggrouphopestohavetheneeds- basedmodelfullydesignedandreadytoimple- ment by the 18th Legislative Assembly. Once it is approved it will likely be phased in over several years. MACA announces new funding model for communities Shortages needs-based funding model addressed at NWTAC AGM PhotosDaliCarmichael Assistant deputy minister for regional operations with MACA Eleanor Young left MACA deputy minister Tom Williams and manager of community nancial services for MACA Grace Lua-a present the ndings from a municipal funding policy review conducted over the last year. Over 100 delegates representing 26 of the NWTs 33 communities attend the NWT Association of Communities AGM on the Katlodeeche First Nation reserve near Hay River.