The City of Moose Jaw needs a long term and sustainable plan to deal with infrastructure. Maintenance of our existing infrastructure is being deferred at an alarming rate. This will result in sorter life spans and early failure of the City’s vital assets (roads, bridges, etc.), ultimately costing more in the long run.

Whatever the sources of funding, it must be sustainable. Reserves are generally dedicated for specific anticipated expenditures and spending those reserves will result in significant added costs for those expenditures. However, reserve accounts must be reviewed on a regular basis as technological and other advances can change future plans and, through prudent management, some reserves have slowly built a surplus beyond their needs.

Grants from other levels of government are another important source of funding, but are inconsistent and cannot be relied upon. Any such funding cannot be relied upon and therefore is not sustainable.

Sustainable funding must come from general revenues and must be dedicated to infrastructure. Whether mill rate increases, tax levies, surcharges, or portions of other revenue (such as provincial sales tax sharing), these monies must earmarked strictly for infrastructure maintenance and renewal. It must be separate from new capital spending as any new capital spending can be expected to increase the demand on the operating budget for infrastructure maintenance.