INNISFAIL - The town is redirecting hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal Gas Tax Fund monies to offset the cost of its million-dollar skatepark project.
The move was unanimously approved by town council at its regular meeting on Oct. 14. Council was told by Heather Whymark, the town's corporate services director, that it was able to use a one-time additional $430,102 payment of the federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) towards the skatepark project. Those new monies will cut the overall cost by almost half.
"It's a case where we are pulling money from where it becomes available, and hopefully we don't have to tap into reserves," said Mayor Jim Romane.
During her presentation to council, Whymark noted the town was also receiving a regular Gas Tax Fund payment of $465,613, monies that have already been earmarked and approved for improvements to the aquatic centre, curling rink and the Innisfail Arena.
During last March's federal budget it was announced that a second one-time GTF would be made available to Canadian municipalities for infrastructure projects. Council was told, however, that before both GTF grant monies could be released to the town it had to choose a project for the one-time additional $430,102 payment.
"It makes perfect sense to use it for the skatepark because you are not depleting your reserves by the same amount," said Coun. Gavin Bates. "This (skatepark cost) was going to come out of general reserves and now the reserves are more intact for whatever we choose to use them for."
With council's decision to choose the skatepark as the infrastructure project for the bonus GTF payment, the federal government still has to give its final approval.
"I will be very, very surprised if they don't approve it," she said, adding the Gas Tax Fund eligibility requirements have allowed recreation and sports infrastructure projects for the past two years.
The $430,623 Gas Tax Fund boost means the town does not have to use that amount from the $901,960 it had budgeted from the General Capital Reserve account. The town also had an additional $155,590 saved in the Skatepark Reserve account.
There may be more senior government help on the way to pay down the remaining cost of the skatepark. The provincial government will let the town know by Nov. 15 whether the town is successful in its application for $125,000 funding under the Community Facility Enhancement Program. If the town is successful with the provincial grant, the overall cost to the town for the skatepark could come down to about $350,000, or even lower once local fundraising monies are calculated.
"It is a good time to have it," said Whymark of the GTF boost, which formally arrives just as administration and council prepare themselves for the town's 2020 budget deliberations. "We actually have extra funding from the government to go towards that project, which will give us more reserves for the 2020 budget."
"It is still unknown whether there will be another double-up next year," she said over the question of whether the federal government will distribute extra GTF monies to municipalities in the future. "I know legislatively most municipalities are pushing for the double-double."
In the meantime, construction on the skatepark at the intersection of 42nd Street and 51st Avenue is expected to be completed by Oct. 31.
"When the whole thing is done and the pot is all boiled down we will tell the people that this has really been a positive project. We've been able to pull it off without (Impacting) any services or other projects," said Romane. "It has come together pretty darn well with the input from the service clubs. It has been a great project. It 's brought everybody together."
