WHEREAS small communities are tasked with supplying the same basic services as those local governments with greater resources, and the Small Community Grant provided by the Province acknowledges and attempts to equalize the financial strain; AND WHEREAS the costs associated with providing these services rise with the cost of living: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM request the provincial government to reflect such inflation in the Small Community Grant allocation.
Ministry of Community, Sport Cultural Development In the past, the Province indexed transfers to local governments. However, this practice ended because it is very difficult to devise an indexing formula that anticipated all eventualities and fairly represented the interests of both orders of government over the long term. Thus, the Province stopped indexing in the mid 1990s. Since that time, increases in grant funding have usually been undertaken as part of a dialogue between the Province and local government and normally discussed in the context of broader economic and financial circumstances. This dialogue has usually resulted in generous funding for local governments. For example, since 2005, the total funding for small community grants has increased by a factor much greater than the Consumer Price Index.