While provinces like Ontario and Quebec have announced they will be passing along a healthy portion of the cannabis tax windfall to their municipalities, it's been all quiet on the Alberta front.

Barry Morishita, president of the Urban Municipalities of Alberta Association (AUMA), says municipalities are frustrated that the Alberta government has not given any indication of providing funding to cover the costs related to the legalization of the use of recreational marijuana. In fact, they haven't even acknowledged municipalities will be facing any additional costs.

As of yet, the province hasn't responded to a request earlier this year for municipalities to receive 70 per cent of the tax being realized by the province plus a $30 million transitional fund.

'They did not reply to that and in fact, publicly they have not acknowledged that we even have costs associated to the legalization of recreational cannabis," says Morishita, currently in Cochrane wrapping up two days of meetings.

Morishita says there are substantial costs in administering and enforcing the laws and it's an extra burden some municipalities simply can't afford.

The federal government is giving the Alberta government 75 per cent of the tax realized plus an extra 10 per cent because Alberta doesn't have a provincial sales tax, explains Morishita. The province will also derive revenue from being the only wholesaler and the only Alberta online source, plus they will collect corporate taxes from producers and retail outlets.

"What we're going to get, quite tongue-in-cheek, is business licence fees--and some communities don't have those--which is minute. And then we might see some assessment growth in some properties that have been sitting empty for a long period of time."

Like alcohol, cannabis law enforcement will be on the plate of municipalities.

"We will be the first ones called when there's a dispute, the first ones called when there's a noise problem, the first ones called when there's quality of life issues that we feel will come from the legalization of recreational cannabis. We're going to be the ones monitoring home grow operations. They're going to call us first when all these issues come up, they're not going to call the province, they're not going to call AGLC (Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission) to deal with it, it's going to be us."

"Their approach is clearly that they are not willing to share the revenue even though we have all these expenses."

The AUMA convention is just a month away and with many provincial government officials in attendance, you can expect it will remain a hot topic as the Oct. 17 legalization date draws closer.

Last December, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government expected the provinces to share the tax bonanza with municipalities to help offset their costs.

Both AUMA board and the Rural Municipalities Association (RMA) held their board meetings here, Aug. 23-24. Annually, the two boards hold their meetings in one location to deal with their own business, then take time to collaborate on issues they have in common.

Cochrane welcomed the opportunity to serve as host. They toured the board members and their support staff through the SLS Family Sports Centre, strolled through the Historic Downtown and visited businesses, like Half Hitch Brewing Company and Garmin.