B1

BRUCE BARTLETT
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

SAINT JOHN - The city will get $19.5 million from the province in 2010 as part of the unconditional grant program, the same amount as this year.

The formal announcement, which will take place Monday, is early this year and is appreciated by the city as it builds its budget for next year, Mayor Ivan Court said.

"Even though the government must practise restraint during these difficult economic times, we have decided that the unconditional grant for each municipality and rural community must be maintained at the same amount as allocated in 2009," said Bernard LeBlanc, minister of Local Government.

Court said getting the same amount as last year is a good thing for the city.

"We understand the economic constraints that they are facing, they are hard pressed, they are carrying a large debt," he said.

"They realize also that the municipalities don't have many ways of generating revenues, so they have to be careful that they don't create an imbalance."

The $19.5 million unconditional grant makes up about 16 per cent of the city's budget but in the early 1990s it was in the $29 million range, Court said. It has been as low as $17 million which put a lot of pressure on property tax rates.

Next year the total grant for all municipalities in the province is $68 million.

"At least by maintaining it, we know we have it and can lock it in when we are working out the budget," Court said.

As past president of the Cities of New Brunswick Association he is glad it is frozen for the entire province.

"There was a great fear it would be reduced because of the situation the province is facing in trying to balance its books," he said.

In past years the city has had to build its budget without knowing for sure what the unconditional grant would be. Then when the figure was released it resulted in combinations of last minute budget cuts or tax increases, he said.