Effective April 1, 2017, we are amalgamating the central agency departments of Executive and Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations into one department called Executive and Indigenous Affairs and amalgamating the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Finance. These amalgamations are reflected in this budget and are expected to strengthen overall service delivery and save approximately $1 million in expenditures. Much of the savings will be realized by the creation of a shared corporate services function that will support the two new departments.
The amalgamation of the departments of Transportation and Public Works and Services into the Department of Infrastructure on April 1, 2017 will save more than $5 million in expenditures when fully implemented and lead to more effective program delivery to NWT residents and businesses and to the GNWT.
The Single Window Service Centres that provide residents in smaller communities with one-stop access to GNWT programs and services are an excellent example of actions to improve transparency for NWT residents in dealing with the GNWT. Our 20 Single Window Service Centres staffed by government service officers, who serve as community liaisons and provide outreach services, including home visits, are becoming the face of the GNWT for many of our residents. We are pleased to propose expanding the program by adding $95,000 in this budget for a single service centre on the K'atlodeeche First Nation reserve.
We continue to work to make the machinery of government as efficient and effective as possible. As part of our ongoing Financial Renewal Strategy, we are upgrading our core financial, procurement, human resource and payroll systems. This $3.9 million investment will support the upgrade and allow for delivery of support for our administrative systems as well as standard maintenance updates for the next seven years.
We can’t borrow without paying the piper and have added $200,000 to this budget to meet the interest expense on our long-term debt.
Mr. Speaker, the results of the 2014 Municipal Funding Review show that our funding to help community governments provide municipal services is not enough to meet the needs of community governments. We made a commitment in our mandate to do better to close the gap in funding levels to meet municipal core needs. As part of the larger strategy to improve asset management and encourage communities to become as self-sufficient as their economic bases allow, we propose to add $528,000 to begin to address community operating and maintenance budget shortfalls and a further $601,000 in additional water and services transfers to our communities in this budget. This additional water and services funding will provide community governments with resources to maintain solid waste sites and provide garbage collection services.
The Property Taxation Revenue Grant Program is used to grant the property tax revenue generated in the General Taxation Area communities to the respective municipal governments in an effort to transfer more decision-making authority and resources to community governments. While the property tax revenues increase in these communities, the grant budget has not, and in this budget, we are adding $90,000 to cover the shortfall.
This budget also adds almost $5.5 million in one-time funding to continue the construction of 45 market rental units for leasing to RCMP members in Inuvik, Norman Wells, Hay River, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson. This one-time funding initiative is a northern solution for a housing problem where the NWT Housing Corporation and the Department of Justice are working in partnership with the RCMP to meet their housing needs so that they are better able to deliver policing services to NWT residents and not worry about constructing and maintaining housing units for their members. This initiative gives the NWT Housing Corporation an opportunity to generate more revenues and, through its procurement approach and use of the existing property management services of its Local Housing Organizations, will provide employment opportunities for northern communities for years.