Grants and Payments

GRANTS TO OTHER MUNICIPALITIES

Through the Building Manitoba Fund and other provincial support, the Province will invest over $117 million in 2012; an increase of $9.7 million over the 2011 level.

Building Manitoba Fund (BMF)

Through the Building Manitoba Fund Manitoba invests the equivalent of one percentage point of provincial sales tax revenue to support municipal roads, recreation facilities, transit, and other infrastructure renewal needs. Funding in support of municipalities outside of Winnipeg will increase $7.6 million in 2012 under the BMF.

Municipal Infrastructure Assistance

General Assistance - provides funding support to assist municipalities in addressing infrastructure maintenance and capital asset renewal needs in their operating budget.

Roads / Bridges - 50% cost-shared capital funding is provided to assist with the construction or upgrading of eligible municipal roads within community boundaries. Cities, towns, villages and local urban districts are eligible under this program.

Funding support is also provided for the repair and replacement of municipal bridges across Manitoba, through the Municipal Bridge Renewal Program.

Municipal Dikes - New funding is being made available in 2012 to upgrade emergency dikes and raise roads in order to enhance permanent flood protection measures in municipalities across Manitoba.

Manitoba Water Services Board - through the water and sewer program, capital funding is provided to municipalities outside of Winnipeg to develop safe and sustainable water and/or sewage treatment facilities.

For more information on the Manitoba Water Services Board, click here.

Municipal Recreation Fund - Almost $10 million will be provided in Budget 2012 through the Municipal Recreation Fund to enhance and upgrade recreation facilities across Manitoba.

This results in a total investment of over $26.5 million in recreation facilities since this program began in 2006.

The Municipal Recreation Fund is administered through the existing provincial Community Places grant program.

Rural / Northern Library Technology Fund - provides on-going assistance to rural and northern libraries for new technology, enhanced services and improved public access.

Renaissance Brandon - provides on-going resources to support downtown revitalization, matching contributions from the City of Brandon.

Residential Sewer Back-Up Program - cost-shared funding is available for municipalities offering subsidies to homeowners undertaking basement flood protection measures, including installing sump pumps and backwater valves to protect against sewer back-up and basement flooding.

Transit Support

Transit Operating Grants - operating grants are provided to municipalities to support public transit services, including handi-transit. Two types of operating grants are provided:

Public Transit Systems - supports the operation of public transit systems in the cities of Brandon, Thompson, Flin Flon and Selkirk. Support is provided through the 50/50 transit funding partnership, enshrined in provincial legislation.

Mobility Disadvantaged Transportation Program - supports the operation of handivan services for mobility-disadvantaged individuals in 68 communities in Manitoba. Funding available to municipalities under this program includes:

• One-time start-up grants of $6,000 to assist sponsoring municipalities with the establishment of new handivan services.
• Annual operating grants based on 37.5% of gross eligible operating costs (maximum of $20,000 for communities with one vehicle or $30,000 for those with more than one vehicle)
• New Regional Incentive Grants to eligible municipalities operating regional handi-transit services

Transit Capital Grants - annual capital grants are provided to the Cities of Brandon and Selkirk to fund the replacement or refurbishment of transit buses.

The Mobility Disadvantaged Transportation Program provides one-time capital grants equal to 50% of the net cost to purchase a handivan, to a maximum of $10,000.

In addition to funding through the Building Manitoba Fund, support for transit capital projects is available from the Small Communities Transit Fund.

Canada-Manitoba Infrastructure Agreements - Funding support is provided for infrastructure projects through various federal - provincial infrastructure funding programs.

For more information on these grant programs visit the Canada-Manitoba Infrastructure Secretariat website.

Police / Public Safety

Police Officers - Budget 2012 delivers support for additional police officers outside Winnipeg:

• 15 officers funded through the Federal Police Officer Recruitment Fund.
• 1 additional police officer for the City of Brandon, bringing the total number of Brandon officers funded by the Province to 15.

Public Safety - funding support is also provided for municipal fire fighters, including 4 new firefighter / paramedic positions in Brandon, as well as for the delivery of fire fighter training for municipalities that operate volunteer fire departments.

Other Support

Rural Community Development (Gaming) Grant - provides municipalities and Northern Affairs communities with a share of video lottery terminal (VLT) revenues, allocated on an unconditional basis. VLT funding is based on 10% of net VLT revenues generated outside the City of Winnipeg. Funds are distributed on a per capita basis, plus a base grant of $5,000 per municipality.

General Support Grants - unconditional grants provided to 21 municipalities, intended to offset the cost of the Province’s Health and Post Secondary Education Tax Levy (payroll tax). Funding is provided to municipalities with payrolls over $1.25M. Calculation is based on a percentage of the municipality’s eligible payroll costs in the previous year.

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