Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 08/99) - It's called an agreement but it can be changed at any time by the territorial government.

City councillors on Tuesday were scratching their heads about a request from the territorial government to extend the current block funding agreement for a year.

In this case "extend" means what it normally means -- let the agreement stand a year longer than planned -- plus take a $175,000 reduction.

"If it's an extension, how come we're getting less?" asked Coun. Bob Brooks.

"Even when we've had an existing agreement in place, they've chopped the funding," said Mayor Dave Lovell. "(The agreements) don't protect the amounts."

Under an agreement signed in 1993, the city received $5.4 million in block funding in 1998. With the extension, it will receive $5.23 million in 1999. Block funding is money the GNWT gives the city to help pay for capital projects and operations. It amounts to about half as much as the city collects in property taxes.

The NWT's five tax-based municipalities each will take block funding hits this year, the result of the territorial government's decision to put $518,000 less in its block-funding budget.

Brooks wondered aloud why that cut was made, recalling, "Dave and I sat there and watched Paul Martin and John Todd sign an agreement where the GNWT gets more money, and now they're turning around and giving us less."

Coun. Robert Slaven noted part of the reason for the additional federal dollars was the increased cost of running two separate territorial governments.

Discussion during the financial, legislative and administrative committee meeting ended with the committee recommending council fire off a letter to MACA protesting the cut and noting the difficulties it poses to formulating a budget.