(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

time of some uncertainty

City of Red Deer working with $50 million in stimulus funding

Sep 26, 2020 | 10:30 AM

The City of Red Deer finds itself with an extra $50 million to spend on projects thanks to the provincial and federal governments.

Chief Financial Officer Dean Krejci says the money comes at a time when uncertainty still lingers.

“It certainly helps, but it is a one-time grant versus something like MSI, which is theoretically received each year,” he says. “It does help to absorb some cutbacks, but doesn’t replace them.”

The City received just over $21 million in MSI funding from the province in 2020, and anticipates a smaller amount for 2021.

Of the total sum announced recently, $12 million comes from the province’s $500 million stimulus package and must be used to hire private sector workers in a bid to get Alberta’s economy chugging along again.

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The other $38 million is from the federal government’s Investing in Canada program. Both allocations must be spent by Dec. 31, 2021.

“We chose to spend the $12 million on one project which is the paved roadway network management, or in other words, crown paving. Because of the deadline for spending it, it has to be something we are ready to do,” says Krejci. “We then looked at what our largest projects are in the capital budget which we do each year, and crown paving is about $13 million per year, so it was a very nice fit.”

On the federal side of the funding, Krejci explains the City had previously been allocated funds for public transit projects. However, the Government of Canada announced earlier this week that all or a part of that funding can be diverted to COVID-19 resiliency-related projects.

“Under the terms of the grant, it can be used for the upgrade or retrofit of existing municipal buildings, or it can be used for fire and flood resiliency,” he says. “A portion will remain with transit, but the majority will be split out into COVID-19 resiliency.”

Krejci notes one project which won’t benefit from these dollars is expansion of the G.H. Dawe Centre because it’s already received Investing in Canada funding under a stream designated for recreation.

Which buildings will receive attention, or where fire and flood resiliency can be improved is yet to be decided.

The City must submit project ideas for review before it can start work, and city council will give formal approval to all expenditures during capital budget debate this November. Any paving approved this fall would start next spring.