Whereas previously, local governments received annual unconditional grants from the Province in two payments, one at the end of March and the other at the end of June; And whereas the 2016 grants are being paid in a single payment at the end of June, creating a cash flow hardship for small local governments that depend on the March payment to meet their operational needs: Therefore be it resolved that the provincial government process unconditional grants in two payments annually to alleviate cash flow hardships.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs Housing With the conclusion of the Strategic Community Investment Fund SCIF in 2015, the Ministry returned to a single annual payment date for its unconditional grants to local governments. These grants include Traffic Fine Revenue Sharing, Small Community Grants, and Regional District Basic Grants. The payment date is set for June of each year; this roughly coincides with the collection of municipal property taxes, and it is a full month in advance of the remission of regional district taxes from participating municipalities to their respective regional districts. As both the remission of taxes and the payment of grants occurs months after the start of the municipal fiscal year, regional districts need to finance their first few months of operations from other sources. A regional district may temporarily fund its operational needs from existing cash surplus andor from revenue anticipation at a nominal rate of interest. We encourage local governments to investigate either of these cash-management methods.