Madawaska Valley Township receives an unexpected gift from the Province.
On Wednesday, 405 municipalities were advised that they would be receiving funding to improve Service Delivery and Efficiency. For their part, Madawaska Valley Township will be getting an incredible $620 124.
Steve Clark, the Province’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) says that “Taxpayers need their local government to deliver modern, efficient services that show respect for their hard-earned dollars. This funding will help small and rural municipalities improve how they deliver services and reduce the ongoing costs of providing those services”.
Mayor of Madawaska Valley Township, Kim Love, says that this came as a big surprise and that she is very excited. “Municipalities didn’t have any clues that money was coming for efficiencies and we’re thrilled”. When asked about what Service Delivery and Efficiency actually meant she says that it’s very general “it means what we do and how we do it”. She adds that it’s still very fresh and new and that municipal staff will have to look into the fine print and see what the can and can’t spend it on.
Mayor Love says that council will have to get together and discuss how they will use the funds but states that they have a number of projects that they were already looking at when planning the budget and didn’t know if they had enough money. These funds will certainly help.
One of the things she says the money could be potentially be used for is to improve out-of-date software used by municipal staff. She also mentions that renovations to the municipal office could be in their plans in order to “make sure staff has the space that meets their needs”.
“It’s not every day that I open my email and get informed that we are getting money, this was a real surprise” she says.
When asked about the idea of throwing a big party featuring rock band U2, Mayor Love laughed and said “I’m not sure that’s the kind of efficiency the government would like us to spend it on”.
She says that all in all, it’s about spending the money in way that will help save taxpayers money later down the road.
Funding given to other municipalities:
Pembroke – $725 000
Petawawa – $670 329
Arnprior – $646 946
Renfrew – $642 009
Bonnechere Valley Township – $592 479
Deep River – $507 786
North Algona Wilberforce Township – $478 939
Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards Township – $448 797
South Algonquin Township – $397 000
Brudenell, Lyndoch and Raglan Township – $353 934