I am pleased to present the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs’ main estimates for the fiscal year 2013-2014.
The department’s main estimates propose an operations expenditure budget of $98.8 million, an increase of $3.25 million, or 3.4 percent, from the 2012-2013 Main Estimates. The increase consists primarily of $3.68 million in forced growth funding, offset by funding that is sunsetting this fiscal year.
MACA has a broad mandate, focusing on community governments but also providing a range of programs aimed at sport and recreation, youth and volunteers. Of the proposed 2013-2014 budget, approximately 78 percent is provided to our key stakeholders: community governments. This includes $47 million to provide for community government operation and maintenance costs and $14.6 million to provide for water and sewer costs.
MACA will also provide community governments with infrastructure acquisition funding of $28 million in 2013-2014, comprised entirely of capital formula funding.
In addition, the Gas Tax Agreement will provide community governments with funding of $15 million in 2013-2014, unchanged from 2012-2013.
In support of the 17th Legislative Assembly’s goals, MACA will provide technical advice and assistance related to the implementation of integrated community sustainability plans in the areas of energy, capital and human resources. The department will continue to implement the Public Service Capacity Initiative, and will implement an accountability framework to further improve reporting requirements for public funding, and to support community governments’ ability to be accountable to their residents. MACA will also complete the Recreational Leasing Policy Framework.
Through programs such as Active After School, Get Active NWT, traditional games tours and participation in the Healthy Choices Framework, MACA will continue to support the 17th Assembly’s goal of healthy, educated people and its priority of
supporting the health care system through preventative measures such as physical activity.
Forced growth funding accounts for $3.68 million of the year-over-year increase to MACA’s budget reflected in the 2013-2014 Main Estimates. This increase is to provide grants-in-lieu payments to tax-based communities, increased operations and maintenance funding and water/sewer funding due to population growth, and increases in fuel and electricity costs.
The department will also be supporting the government’s decentralization initiative by re-profiling funding for three vacant Yellowknife positions and combining with existing regional position funding to establish five new assistant regional superintendent positions in the Beaufort-Delta, Sahtu, Deh Cho, North Slave and South Slave.
Reported results confirm more communities with accumulated surpluses and fewer communities with accumulated deficits. These are strong indicators of improved financial management, and community governments should be acknowledged for the improvements they have achieved with the support of MACA staff and through the Public Service Capacity Initiative. MACA continues to support community governments in their capacity building initiatives, and funding the public service capacity is again reflected in MACA’s 2013-2014 Main Estimates. There has been a great deal of work done on this program over the past year, and the input of our partners from the NWT Association of Communities, the Local Government Administrators of the NWT and the Department of Human Resources has been instrumental in improving the program. The department is currently working to finalize an evaluation framework to use to measure results and to report on the program and its outcomes.
MACA is in the third year of implementing its strategic plan, and will continue to report on progress through the business planning process. Continued support of community capacity building, land management initiatives, youth leadership development and healthy choices are just some examples of how MACA is responding to the priorities of the 17th Assembly.
Thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to provide an overview of the department’s 2013-2014 Main Estimates. I look forward to discussing them with you.