Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The town’s elected officials have decided to reinstate the Kindersley Community Initiatives Program (KCIP) grant after receiving a letter about the funding.
Council passed a resolution at a meeting on May 28 to rescind a prior resolution made in March to suspend the KCIP grant for 2018. The Town of Kindersley gets approximately $45,000 in annual funding from Saskatchewan Lotteries and the money is used for the KCIP grants.
The town for the past several years has run an application process for community groups, particularly groups involving underrepresented demographics, to access KCIP funding to support their programs, activities and events.
In March, council passed a resolution to suspend the grant program for one year to use the funding to purchase fireworks for Canada Day, cover costs related to the grand opening of the Kindersley Aquatics Centre and to establish the Wall of Champions at the West Central Events Centre (WCEC).
At the meeting on Monday night, Mayor Rod Perkins said council suspended the program on the advice received from the administration, but the town has learned that the Wall of Champions project does not meet the guidelines for funding from Sask. Lotteries.
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The mayor said the news might come as a surprise to other council members because a letter from Sask. Lotteries had just been received by the town and even he had only seen the letter earlier in the day.
“We apologize for maybe jumping the gun a little,” Perkins said, recognizing that he believes future lotteries funding could be jeopardized if the town does not respond and there is a resolution on the table to rescind the previous resolution by council to suspend the grant program.
Councillor Randy Ervine said he would have preferred to discuss the item privately before voting on whether or not to move forward the program. Ervine motioned to move to an in-camera session to discuss the matter.
After the discussion, council passed the resolution to rescind the previous decision. Perkins asked the administration to post an invitation for applications, and the town will get an adjudication committee together to evaluate the applications.
Audrey Hebert, the acting administrator, said council would not want to delay the application process for too long because groups that apply for the grants will plan to use them during their current seasons. Councillor Gary Becker said he believes council should take a close look at KCIP and he asked for more information to be provided to council, but the town should consider updating the program.
In an interview, Perkins said the current council did not expect to get everything right when it took office late in 2016. He noted that being 75 per cent right is okay, but the group would admit when it is wrong on the other 25 per cent. He said council received inaccurate information about the funding.
“We’re admitting we got some poor advice,” the mayor added, noting the grant program will be fully reinstated for 2018. “The project that we were assured did qualify does not qualify. We’re going back to the drawing board and we’ll start all over again.”
Other meeting highlights
• Council has passed resolutions to give all three readings to a bylaw to adopt new mill rate factors for 2018. The 2018 uniform mill rate has not changed.
Mill rate factors are a tool municipalities have to shift percentages of the total taxable assessment to different property classes. Mill rate factors are applied to the mill rate and used to calculate the property tax to be covered by residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural classes.
The uniform mill rate for 2018 is 9.7 mills and it has not changed from 2017. Audrey Hebert, the town’s director of corporate services, said there have been changes to assessments and the mill rate factors have to be changed as a result.
She noted that the shift in mill rate factors allows the town to generate the same amount of revenue from property classes as the previous year. The town’s minimum taxes for 2018 have not changed from 2017.
Mayor Rod Perkins said the good news is there are no tax increases in 2018. The 2018 minimum tax for residential properties is $1,240 and the minimum tax for commercial and industrial properties is $2,140. The minimum taxes were the same in 2017.
• A resolution has been passed by council to defer the decision on whether or not the town would permit a cannabis retailer in Kindersley.
It is unclear when the federal government will adopt legislation to legalize cannabis, so council has decided to defer its decision until January 2019. Council is content to wait until cannabis legislation is in place before making a decision. The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority will be notified.
• The town’s elected officials have passed a resolution to amend a lease agreement for a commercial lot at the Kindersley Regional Airport. The lease amendment expands the lot area for the operator, according to an official.
• Council members have passed a resolution to appoint Bill O’Sullivan as a town representative on the Kindersley Regional Park Authority board. The town is able to appoint two members and one position was vacant, so O’Sullivan will fill the role.
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