ATHABASCA — The Town of Athabasca councillors received a piece of good news during their Aug. 13 council meeting; the municipality will receive $25,000 in additional federal dollars than expected through the renewal of the Canadian Community-Building Fund (CCBF).
Provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver informed council of the increase in an Aug. 6 letter, noting the community will receive a total of $210,700 for the 2024 fiscal year. The town’s new total is a jump from the budgeted amount of $185,600, based on 2023 funds.
“When you get money thrown at you that you weren’t expecting, it allows you to do some things you were planning to do,” said Mayor Rob Balay in an Aug. 21 follow-up. “It’s always good news to get extra funds from the government.”
Though Balay said council has yet to determine which projects the funds will go towards, he said CCBF dollars will likely go to capital work around the town.
Projects that have received CCBF funding in the past include the recent paving in the industrial area and several of the large water-related projects.
Chief Financial Officer for the town, Jeff Dalley, said the federal funds will likely be distributed in the new year, once projects have been selected and the province has been notified of Athabasca’s CCBF to-do list.
The renewed agreement between federal and provincial governments came into effect April 1, and is set to last until March 31 2034, with a total budget of $26.7 billion over the ten-year span.
Of the $2.4 billion federal dollars distributed per year, Alberta will receive $265 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. Funds are distributed from the provinces based on population, and all municipalities, with the exception of summer villages, receive a minimum of $50,000 annually.
Summer villages receive $5,000 in base funding per year plus a per capita amount.
The Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Prince Edward Island receive 0.75 per cent of annual funding, while Indigenous communities and the remainder of the province’s allocations are per capita based.
Balay made a comment about the deal during the council meeting, noting the cooperation between the province and their federal counterparts, despite the recent tension between the levels of government, was nice to see.
