A slowly declining population, and not the dollar figure set by the provincial budget, means the Town of Rimbey will see its MSI grant reduced slightly this year.
Rimbey’s assistant CAO Melissa Beebe said the town will receive approximately $17,000 less than the $513,154 received for capital MSI funding last year.
However, CAO Tony Goode said the funding formula used by the government hasn’t changed, but Rimbey’s population has decreased by around 100 people since the last municipal census five years ago.
“We have just under 2,500 people here now,” he said.
The school requisition has gone up by 4.9 per cent, bringing the total bill to $810,699.
Rimoka’s requisition of $32,502 shows a slight increase of only .75 per cent.
Goode said the date has not yet been set for the council meeting to wrap up budget deliberations but he is expecting to finalize the capital budget in early April.
The 2013 provincial budget shows no new taxes, an increase in healthcare funding but post-secondary institutions will see their funding reduced.
Lack of revenue means the province will face a $2-billion deficit.