Alberta municipalities are putting heavy emphasis on the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) convention that officially kicked off yesterday in Edmonton, including the Town of Cochrane.

For most municipal officials, it will be the first opportunity to formally sit down with cabinet ministers of the Kenney government since their appointment in the spring. The convention also comes on the doorstep of the Kenny government's first budget and shortly after the release of the McKinnon Report of Alberta Finances that says the government should reduce financial support for municipalities.

Armed with a detailed background book, the full Cochrane town council is meeting six cabinet ministers to discuss Cochrane issues at the convention that continues until Friday.

Flipping through the blue playbook, Mayor Genung says the town has upped its game immensely in utilizing the convention to press home key issues in Cochrane. 

"No pressure gang but this is a big week for us.to move some things forward," he told council Monday night.

Among the face-to-face meetings they held yesterday was a sit down with Transportation minister Ric McIver. They are also discussing Cochrane issues with Infrastructure minister Prasad Panda, Indigenous Relations minister Rick Wilson, Environment and Parks minister Jason Nixon, Economic Development, Trade and Tourism minister Tanya Fir and Seniors and Housing minister Josephine Pon.

Agenda items include the Hwy. 22-1A interchange, seniors housing and water licensing issues.

"I'm happy that we're having these meaningful engagements with the ministers."

Being prepared for the convention was top of mind for the AUMA. It provides municipalities with an engagement toolkit on how to use the convention to talk to MLAs and cabinet ministers.

Weeks in advance of the convention, AUMA president Barry Morishita said he anticipated the future of municipal funding to be top mind for most delegates.

AUMA PresidentAUMA president Barry Morishita while attending meetings in Cochrane. (file photo)

Shortly after the release of the McKinnon report, Morishita told Cochrane Now the AUMA did agree with some of the findings, including the end of rollercoaster funding, but they take issue with the recommendation to reduce funding to municipalities.

Municipalities are responsible for 60 percent of the infrastructure in the province, he says, yet it receives 10 per cent of the tax dollars. Municipalities are limited to relying upon property taxes to generate revenue and there's only so much burden you can place on local ratepayers. 

"Let's face facts," says Morishita, "For a lot of municipalities there's not enough room in property taxes for further downloading, especially when roughly 30 per cent of the tax base is picked up by the province for education. Tax shifting will not really help the overall burden on Albertans."

Additionally, he points out, some municipalities are left financing services that go beyond their corporate borders.

"I went to a lot of communities that deal with niche issues with just their tax base when actually the cost should be spread over to a broader population. We currently don't have solutions for those kinds of things."

"There are solutions, though, I want to make that clear. AUMA believes there are solutions to all these problems, we just need to work together to get there."

The current Municipal Sustainable Initiative (MSI) funding arrangement with municipalities ends in March 2022 and getting a new agreement in place remains the number one priority of AUMA. Many communities, Cochrane included, rely heavily upon the funding to complete critical infrastructure projects.