April 6, 2011
Municipal Services in the Peace River Region Receive Boost

PEACE RIVER – The Province has granted $2,117,832 to cities and towns in the Peace River region as part of a $63.8-million funding infusion to help communities with their spending priorities.

This is being done in three ways:

• Through the Strategic Community Investment Fund (SCIF), communities across B.C. are receiving $30 million in Small Community and Regional District Grants to support investments in basic local government services.
• In this first SCIF instalment for 2011, the Province is also returning $30 million in net traffic fine revenues to eligible municipalities.
• In addition, being green has paid off in more ways than one as local governments will be reimbursed for the carbon taxes they paid in 2010. This amounts to $3.8 million.

Why this matters:

• The Strategic Community Investment Fund was established to stimulate local economies, create jobs and encourage overall growth.
• The Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program reflects the Province’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent by 2020 through partnerships with local government.

Quotes

"The Province is dedicated to helping our northern communities create jobs and strengthen our local economies. The Strategic Community Investment Fund is part of this government's commitment to provide municipalities with the resources they need to increase safety and fund projects."
-Peace River South MLA Blair Lekstrom

"Programs like these have helped make communities around British Columbia safer by putting more police on our roads and providing more resources for crime prevention."
-Peace River North MLA Pat Pimm

Additional information:

• The Traffic Fine Revenue Sharing program assists municipalities that directly pay police enforcement costs. The grants come from ticket fines and court-imposed fines on violation tickets, and the amount of money a municipality receives is based on its contribution to total municipal policing costs.
• The Small Community and Regional District Grants are unconditional grants to local governments that assist them in providing basic services. Grant amounts are based on a formula that factors in a base amount, population and assessment values.
• On Sept. 24, 2008, the Province announced the Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program to offset the carbon tax for local governments that have signed the B.C. Climate Action Charter. To be eligible for the program, communities are required to report annually on the steps they are taking – and progress they have made – to become carbon neutral by 2012.
• Communities that have signed the Climate Action Charter receive a conditional grant equal to 100 per cent of their carbon tax costs to support their climate change efforts.

Learn more about:

B.C. local governments: http://www.cscd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/

Climate Action Charter at:http://www.livesmartbc.ca/community/charter.html

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