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This article was published 27/11/2018 (668 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government's cancellation of a program funding rural road and bridge work midway through the construction season has left municipalities scrambling to cover shortfalls in the millions of dollars, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities says.

The program was supposed to pump $14 million into rural roads this year — money that was matched by municipalities across the province — but the Manitoba government informed rural municipalities in August the money wouldn't be forwarded, even though much of the seasonal road work was already tendered or completed.

Instead, the province said it had terminated the program and would pay only a one-time, $2.25-million sum to ease the transition.

The offloading of road and bridge repairs to municipalities will have long-term ramifications for rural infrastructure, the AMM said this week, but the priority now is finding money to cover this year's roadwork or cancelling projects.

"When we checked in March and June because we hadn't got confirmation (of the program), we were told, 'Don't worry, it will be status quo.' We were supposed to get $400,000," said Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook.

Without that $400,000, Thompson has been forced to cancel about one-third of its budgeted roadwork and has had to pay penalties to affected construction companies, Smook said.

In Selkirk, the city went ahead with roadwork costing $800,000, with $400,000 expected from the province. Instead, the city received less than $70,000 from the transition fund.

Making up $400,000 equals an $80 hike per taxpayer, said Mayor Larry Johannson. However, Selkirk will cover the unexpected expense out of its reserve funds, instead.

"We stand with and support provincial efforts to reduce the deficit, but we can't cancel every program. We all have aging infrastructure that has to be replaced," Johannson said.

Selkirk city council started a motion to protest the cuts; 102 municipalities signed on as co-sponsors, a record for any resolution in AMM's history.

Municipal Relations Minister Jeff Wharton promised later in a speech to the AMM convention the government is preparing an improved infrastructure program to replace the existing one but didn't provide details.

Outgoing Association of Manitoba Municipalities President Chris Goertzen was disappointed with the province's withdrawal from the infrastructure program. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

In a scrum after question period in the Legislature, Wharton added the new program is close to being complete and will tie in with the federal Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

"We have an opportunity to leverage federal money under the new Investing in Canada Phase II. With the provincial spend, we're looking at over $2 billion in investment over the next 10 years," he said.

Municipal leaders acknowledged there had been good talks with the government but were unaware of a new program.

The Municipal Road and Bridge Program is widely lauded by local leaders for its simplicity and absence of red tape. A streamlined version has been in place for about half a dozen years but the cost-sharing between the province and municipalities dates back decades, AMM officials said.

Winnipeg is not affected and has a separate infrastructure funding arrangement with the province.

The program was important for reducing the infrastructure deficit of municipalities, outgoing AMM President Chris Goertzen said Tuesday at the organization's annual meeting in Winnipeg.

Several local government leaders said the government may not fully understand the impact the cancellation will have on the 137 municipalities across the province.

"I truly believe the Pallister government wants to make the province healthy and sustainable but we all make a mistake once in a while. I believe that's what happened with this program," said Smook.

"Thompson is only 50 years old, but it was only built for a five- to 10-year lifespan, so you can imagine what our infrastructure's like."

Cutting the program hits smaller municipalities just as hard.

In the RM of Morris, Reeve Ralph Groening said the unexpected cut forced the municipality to fill potholes rather than repair some roads.

"We were going to go into the community of Sperling and do an upgrade of the roads. Can't do it," he said.

"(The cuts) will have an accumulative effect on the deteriorating infrastructure on all of Manitoba."

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca