Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver during a speech in February 2021. (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

Province allocating smallest amount of MSI funding to municipalities in at least a decade

Mar 17, 2022 | 12:41 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Alberta Government presented its first balanced budget in several years, but that did not come without a few sacrifices.

Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver issued a letter to elected municipal officials dated February 24, 2022. It was received for information at this week’s Coaldale Town Council meeting.

He said that funding under the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) will average $722 million per year for 2021-2024.

“We front-loaded MSI funding for 2021-22 to a total of approximately $1.2 billion, to help municipalities recover from the pandemic and provide flexibility to ensure priority capital projects could continue. As a result, MSI funding for 2022 and 2023 has been reduced proportionately to $485 million each year.”

MSI funding can be used for projects such as roadways and bridges, water and wastewater systems, public transit facilities, recreation and sports facilities, and other key local priorities.

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Due to last year’s allocation being “front-loaded,” it was expected that MSI funding in 2022-23 would be smaller.

LNN, however, has looked through the previous 10 years of MSI allocations back to 2012, and found that this year’s amount is the smallest in at least a decade.

This time period includes several years of pre-pandemic data, with UCP, NDP, and PC provincial governments in both good and bad economic situations.

In 2022-23, municipalities in Alberta will receive a combined $515 million. The City of Lethbridge is set to receive $10,852,432, while the Town of Coaldale will take in $932,914.

Total MSI funding for the province, which includes capital funding and operating funding, can be seen in the graphs below:

MSI Funding in Alberta, 2022-2012. (Data from Alberta Government, compiled by LNN)

MSI Funding in Lethbridge, 2022-2012. (Data from Alberta Government, compiled by LNN)

MSI Funding in Coaldale, 2022-2012. (Data from Alberta Government, compiled by LNN)

We have reached out to the City of Lethbridge and Town of Coaldale for comments on this year’s MSI allocations and will update this article as information becomes available.

Local governments will also receive money from the Canada Community-Building Fund, formerly known as the federal Gas Tax Fund. Estimated numbers are not available at this time.

Use the following link to see the 2022 Municipal Sustainability Initiative Allocations.

READ MORE: Alberta presents balanced budget for 2022

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