The provincial government tabled their budget this week. (File photo/paNOW)

By Cam Lee

Budget feedback

Melfort MLA, Nipawin Mayor react to provincial budget

Mar 23, 2024 | 10:30 AM

A local SaskParty MLA was encouraged by his government’s budget this week.

Melfort SaskParty MLA Todd Goudy told northeastNOW the document featured increased spending in several areas, but there is a challenge to get as much bang for the buck as possible.

He pointed to increases in spending for education (nine percent), health care (ten percent), and revenue sharing (fourteen percent) as items that will benefit residents, institutions, and communities in the northeast. Goudy said they’re the biggest increases in those areas in the province’s history.

Goudy was pleased to see that Highway 368 from Melfort to St. Brieux will see some work done, however it won’t be the full re-pave that he hoped for.

“The amount of travelling for work back-and-forth from St. Brieux to Melfort is big,” said Goudy.

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A new funding model for local health care should help retain and recruit doctors, according to Goudy.

Though it wasn’t a reality in this budget, Goudy said there could be some future spending for schools in Melfort.

“We’re still in the top 10 queue of new builds for schools for Melfort here to replace Brunswick and Reynolds,” Goudy said.

Overall, he felt the budget was as fair as possible.

“It was a big budget, but…with the cost of everything these days, it’s hard to stretch those dollars for everyone.”

The budget forecast a $273 million deficit, and Goudy was hopeful that the ink would be black instead of red next year.

“It just seemed like this year was one (where) we needed to spend, and we chose to do that.”

Nipawin Mayor Marlon Zacharias has also weighed in on the budget.

He said the most notable part of the budget for the town was the increase in revenue sharing.

“This increase will provide predictable and sustainable funding, which allows us to plan ahead for further projects and initiatives within our community,” Zacharias told northeastNOW.

He said the increase will allow Nipawin to begin laying the framework for growth, and a previous announcement of improvements to Highway 55 will also benefit the community’s tourism industry and others that are dependent on improved highway infrastructure.

There are some issues that Zacharias would have liked to have seen addressed in the budget that were not there. The town hoped to see an increase in infrastructure funding and grants for municipalities.

“Recently, the costs for some of our infrastructure plans have increased by over a hundred percent. This severely limits the distance we can stretch our tax revenue and slows or stops potential investment in these projects,” Zacharias explained.

The mayor also hoped to see increased investment in the Nipawin Hospital, which is set for some renovations in the coming year. He wanted to see a plan for a larger renovation and improvements considering the growing service area.

Zacharias was pleased to see a freeze on small business taxes, calling small businesses the lifeblood of the community for decades.

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK