Minister provides update on gas tax funding

Today, Municipal Affairs Minister Jack Byrne provided an update on the recently signed Gas Tax Agreement that will see more than $82 million in federal gas tax revenues invested in communities across Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Gas Tax Agreement was signed August 10 at a special ceremony in St. John�s. Minister Byrne signed on behalf of the province, while the province�s federal cabinet representative Loyola Hearn signed on behalf of Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. The signing was officially witnessed by the president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities (NLFM) Wayne Ruth.

�Since the signing of the agreement my officials have been taking numerous enquiries from municipal leaders and employees asking how the funds will be distributed,� said Minister Byrne. �I am pleased today to provide an update as to how the first $20 million owing in the first year of this agreement will be distributed to the municipalities who are so anxious to receive it.�

In the coming days municipalities will receive draft agreements outlining the terms and conditions of the gas tax funding, including eligible categories of expenditures. Councils will then be required to develop their capital investment plans. Following an orientation session planned for the NLFM annual meeting in Gander, October 5, it�s expected that municipalities who have developed capital investment plans that meet the eligibility criteria and who have executed the agreements will receive gas tax cheques soon after.

Gas tax funds must be invested in environmentally-sustainable municipal infrastructure such as water, wastewater management, solid waste management, municipal roads and bridges � where it can be demonstrated that they will contribute to cleaner air, soil and water. Gas tax monies cannot be used to fund a municipality�s share of any cost-shared funding program with either provincial or federal governments.

Municipal leaders and officials with inquiries concerning gas tax funding are encouraged to contact the appropriate regional office of Municipal Affairs.

�Municipalities are anxious to put this funding to work and we are equally anxious to get them started on the many worthwhile projects that this funding will enable,� said Minister Byrne. �Our department and the NLFM are also looking forward to putting the agreed upon $21.9 million in gas tax funding towards implementing the waste management strategy.�

Media contact: John Tompkins, Communications, (709)729-1983, 690-2498 jtompkins@gov.nl.ca

2006 09 11                                     9:55 a.m.