Municipality’s coffers nearly half a million dollars richer
It was a good week for the Town of Pelham’s finances. First some gas tax revenue cruised in, then on Canada Day eve the Minister for Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, notified the Town that its application for funding through the Municipal Modernization Program (MPP) had been approved.
“At the beginning of the week, we were the only municipality in the Region to get gas tax funding of approximately $210,000, to be used on our transportation system.” Mayor Marvin Junkin told the Voice. “Then, at the end of the week, we received a further $250,000 to review the Town’s web-based services, and also to review our corporate service’s function.”
The MPP funds are broken down as follows: $40,000 towards a web-based services review; $143,505 towards a corporate services function review; and $60,000 towards digitizing human resources performance management system review.
The grants are to cover the cost of an independent third-party reviewer, who is to deliver a final report with “specific and actionable recommendations for cost-savings and efficiencies” by November 30.
In 2019, the Ford government launched the MMP to help small and rural municipalities “modernize service delivery and identify new ways to be more efficient and effective,” according to Clark’s notice of funding.
“These reviews will turn-up any weaknesses or overlaps in these procedures,” said Junkin.
