The town's Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding from the provincial government, which is primarily meant for infrastructure projects, has increased by about $100,000 in 2013 over 2012 to $1,718,764.
A total of $1,589,292 of the funding will go towards 14 capital projects the town plans to undertake this year, including $250,000 for traffic lights being installed at Highway 2A and 57 Street and $140,000 for LED lights over the rink surface at the Olds Sports Complex. The projects range in cost from $64,000 to $350,000.
The LED lights that will be installed at the Sportsplex are more energy-efficient than the traditional lights there now.
“That's a project that should pay for itself in about five to six years (through energy savings),” said Garth Lucas, the town's acting director of corporate services.
A total of $129,472 of the 2013 MSI funding allocation to the town will be going toward operating costs.
The provincial government allocated $896 million in 2013-14 for municipalities under the MSI program, the same level as in 2012-13.
How much MSI funding a municipality receives is based on several different factors, including the length of roadways within a municipality and how much a municipality pays the province in education property taxes, said Magharita Reghelini-Griffiths, public affairs officer with Alberta Municipal Affairs.
The provincial government will be putting more funding toward the Regional Collaboration Program, which aims to foster more cooperation between municipalities in funding capital projects. A total of $9 million in RCP funding was available to partnering municipalities in 2012-13, with funding under the program to increase to $63.8 million in 2015-16.
“We are looking to be a bit more strategic in how we invest in and support municipalities and what we're doing in that regard is we're shifting resources into encouraging municipal collaboration,” she said.
