Municipalities have started to receive their share of Manitoba’s $66,157,000 annual allocation of federal gas-tax funds. These funds are being provided through an extension to the Gas Tax Agreement over the next four years to support the renewal of municipal infrastructure, Local Government Minister Ron Lemieux announced.
“Predictable and stable funding is important as it allows municipalities to undertake sustainable, long-term infrastructure planning to address the needs of their communities,” said Lemieux. “More than 40 municipalities have already received their initial gas-tax payment for 2010. Payments will be made to all others as extension agreements are signed by the province and the respective municipalities.”
Manitoba’s gas-tax funding is part of a total of $2 billion provided annually by the Government of Canada to all provinces and territories through 2013-14 and beyond.
The Government of Canada’s Gas Tax Fund supports environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure such as drinking-water, waste-water and solid-waste infrastructure projects, community energy systems and local roads and bridges, allowing local governments to build and rehabilitate vital public infrastructure, Lemieux said.
Manitoba municipalities have received gas-tax funding through individual Gas Tax Agreements with the Province of Manitoba during the past five years from 2005 to 2009. Municipalities have spent almost $44 million of these funds on 271 infrastructure projects as of Dec. 31, 2008.
Municipalities are now signing extension agreements with the province to continue to receive these funds during the next four years through 2013. Gas-tax funds will continue to be allocated to all municipalities and Manitoba Aboriginal and Northern Affairs communities on a per-capita basis. Approximately 10 per cent of these funds have been specifically dedicated to support public transit infrastructure. Winnipeg and Brandon will receive a total of $6.3 million in gas-tax funds each year for public transit allocated on a per-capita basis. A new application-based Small Communities Transit Fund totalling $176,400 is also being established to support projects for public-transit systems across Manitoba.
Manitoba has already committed all of its estimated $230 million in 2010-11 fuel-tax revenue to building and maintaining roads, and municipal and transportation infrastructure, Lemieux said.
“Gas-tax funding helps address municipally determined infrastructure priorities that will benefit not only the citizens of these communities, but all Manitobans, building a better and brighter future for our province,” said Lemieux.
