In order for Saskatchewan municipalities to participate in the Gas Tax Fund Program, the Saskatchewan government is requiring municipalities to start implementing an asset management strategy.
The City of Humboldt approved the implementation of the city’s asset management plan during the July 23 council meeting but there is still more to be done, says city manager, Joe Day.
Asset management itemizes these assets and how much life is left in them before needing to be replaced, as well as the cost of replacing these items and how the city plans to replace them. City assets includes everything from road, waterways, and facilities to city owned equipment.
“Developing a plan or a funding model supported by the council; saying we know how our water lines are going to be replaced, here’s how were going to start to do it and how long it’s going to take, it’s an ongoing process.”
While Day does not know the total number of assets owned by the city, $5 million of the annual budget is dedicated towards replacing city owned assets every year.
It is a tricky question, says Day, since they know the value of what items cost back when they were bought but that replacement cost is going to be significantly higher.
That is where the city needs to do more research, he says. City departments will have to do some looking into the state of their current assets. Public works has done a good job, says Day in keeping track of the state of the water, sewer, and road ways.
The plan will also show the city whether $5 million will be enough to sustain city assets or whether it is too much or too little for the amount of assets they have or will have in the future.
“We know we’re spending $5 million. Could we be doing better? Could we have more that we’re setting aside. If we don’t need to spend $5 million in any particular year to budget something, do we still spend the $5 million and put a portion of it in reserves.”
It is not going to happen overnight, says Day, and the city has set a target date of Nov. 30, 2020 to complete their plan. Municipalities will be reporting their progress to the provincial government every June until 2022.
