The town of White City is planning another annexation attempt of large parts of the RM of Edenwold.

The town of White City has indicated their intention to annex into their town:

• Emerald Park
• Park Meadows Estates
• Meadow Ridge Estates
• Escott/Deneve
• Great Plains Industrial Park (Emerald Park) and additional lands

White City is calling this an “amalgamation” but ratepayers of the RM of Edenwold know better. This is an annexation of our communities plain and simple. These areas have provided the backbone of much of the corridor’s growth over the past decade and have benefitted from the leadership of the RM’s Council. So why is White City suddenly trying to grab these lands now? What will annexation mean for ratepayers?

Did you know?  The area in yellow was part of the 2015 mutually agreed upon annexation and includes almost 400 acres of land.

Residents of the RM have rightly been asking what it will mean for them if White City is allowed to annex large parts of the RM. The architects of White City’s plan simply dismiss these concerns and tell our ratepayers not to worry and to trust them. Well, here’s the full story. There is the potential for:

• Increased Taxes. Many residents of Emerald Park already pay lower taxes than they would in White City. White City has announced plans for a new town-centre, their new town office and other facilities to be located on an undeveloped & unserviced agriculture field. These are expensive wish-list items. Tax hikes will also likely be necessary to pay for tax-loss compensation to the RM – just one of the many costs of annexation.
• Loss of weekly services like garbage pickup, to a twice a month system as is currently done in White City.
• Cost of converting well water systems. White City’s annexation plan suggests that properties with well-water will be “grandfathered” and allowed to stay on their existing well systems. However, what happens when properties change hands? Residents in other communities have walked through the conversion process to a civic water system, costing some homeowners tens of thousands of dollars each. Our communities have no long-term guarantees that this will not happen to them after annexation. White City still has outstanding responsibilities from the 2015 annexation so how can residents trust their promises on "grandfathering”?
• Degradation of regional cooperation. Thanks to a forward-thinking approach and sensible planning from the RM, the corridor between Balgonie and Regina has seen significant growth over the past decade or more. Both the town and the RM of Edenwold have benefitted from this cooperation and growth in the region. It hasn’t always been easy, but the results speak for themselves. Annexation is a solution looking for a problem. By trying to force an annexation of several established RM communities regional cooperation and growth is under threat. This impacts everyone in the RM, White City, and the region. Continued growth along this corridor benefits everyone so why gamble with it so recklessly?
• Limited experience and capacity. The town has very little experience with the different types of developments they are proposing to take over. Commercial, industrial, agricultural, and resource-based development requires a very different planning process than the low-density residential White City has experience with. The town currently claims they have no commercial lands to develop. However, White City decided to develop more residential areas along Highway 1 & Highway 48 despite the land’s potential for commercial development. In 2015, the RM voluntarily released 40 acres of highway-frontage property to White City along Highway 1, which has yet to be developed. White City’s plans to concentrate commercial development in the yet-to-be built town centre are in an undeveloped area lacking services. Business and commercial owners have indicated to the RM this makes development there less desirable than along Highway 1.
• Financial insecurity. White City claims taxes have not increased even though there have been infrastructure investments. But that’s not the whole story. White City has sold assets to pay for infrastructure development in the past such as the water treatment plant. Town residents are now paying for this decision every month through their water bills. Now, the town is proposing to sell off their municipally owned recreational lands along Highway 48 to make way for commercial development, despite the town’s stated goal of improving recreational opportunities. What happens when the town has no more assets to sell?
• Lack of transparency. Were the town’s residents consulted before the town started spending their tax dollars pursuing annexation of a neighbouring community?  Were residents even informed about what the town intended to do with their tax money?  Do residents know how much has been and will be spent pursuing this latest annexation attempt?  The town claims to be honest and transparent, but even their own residents were kept in the dark while this plan was fabricated. This is the fifth annexation attempt by White City since 2005, why are town ratepayers continually being asked to pay for repeated failed annexation attempts?
• Unchecked utility rates and spending. According to the town, one of the benefits of becoming a city is that they can set their own utility rates and operate within a debt limit without annual oversight from the Saskatchewan Municipalities Board (SMB). White City already charges higher rates for water than the RM; what will happen if the utility rates are unrestricted, especially in the case where there is no competition from the RM locally? White City is proposing to annex massive amounts of land from the RM, which requires payment of tax loss compensation among other costs, including the building of a new office and a recreational facility which will cost millions of dollars more. Based on past financial performance, how can residents trust White City to manage these huge costs and debt responsibly when there is no longer any oversight from the Saskatchewan Municipal Board?

How much is enough?

The One Community One Voice website says they need room to grow. In 2015 the RM of Edenwold voluntarily released almost 400 acres to help White City meet its own growth plan. At the time, White City’s plan said that that would be enough space for the next 10-15 years.

But today, only three years later, White City’s plan is to annex over 23 quarter sections of land from the RM.

While the full impact to residents of the RM is not fully known, concerns about tax hikes and cuts to services remain top-of -mind issues for people. White City has a long list of expensive projects they say they’re pursuing, however it is unclear how they could ever afford them based on their current tax revenues. On top of this, they would also need to pay the RM for compensation if their annexation scheme succeeds.

But residents of Emerald Park also raised concerns about representation if annexation goes ahead. In the past, as Emerald Park grew, residents asked the RM about governance and representation. They said their growing community needed a dedicated councillor whose constituency is specifically  Emerald Park. The RM agreed and in 2016, boundaries were realigned to create a new division for Emerald Park. This council position, like other RM council seats, created a natural constituency for Emerald Park residents.

White City’s council is not elected on a ward system; there are no natural constituencies. The town simply selects the top seven council members who receive the most votes. Given the difference in population size between the town and Emerald Park, there is no guarantee that Emerald Park would actually see representatives from the area. In theory this means town council could be made up of seven people from the same street in White City. In practice this means that no matter what happens no single councillor is responsible for, or need be responsive to local concerns within each of the different neighbourhoods that form the town. Unlike the RM which has actual constituencies and representation for them, in White City if you have a problem with your water service for example, you cannot simply contact your councillor because you don’t actually have one.

Annexation does not solve the issue of representation, in fact it only makes it harder to resolve.

The RM heard the concerns of its citizens and was happy to respond to Emerald Park residents by giving them a new seat at the table. There also continues to be discussion at the Council table with respect to additional dedicated representation for Emerald Park citizens and businesses. The RM is a community of communities; we have worked for years to encourage a mix of development in the region from residential, to commercial, industrial and agricultural uses. This has created a broad tax base, diversified our communities, and helped attract and retain more development and investment.

Like you, we believe that representation in Our Communities is important, and when it comes to representation we should have Our Choice.

Annexation is a costly approach; it produces losers on both sides, and all parties should have the full story before a plan is finalized and have their say. It should be a last step rather than opening pitch.

Any RM that loses land in an annexation must be compensated for the loss. In our case the town would need to pay tens of millions of dollars for the estimated compensation costs. According to their own financial statements, this is money that the town does not have, so residents are asking if White City will raise taxes to pay for it.

The town is also musing about building a brand-new multi-use recreation facility. Based on the items included in their recent request for proposals, the cost of this facility is estimated to be about $80 million to build, not including operation costs once it is up and running. White City is also planning to build a new town centre.

The costs of their plans keep mounting, as do questions about their ability to pay for it all.

Despite White City’s vague assurances about taxes not going up, sooner or later the bills will come due – how else can they pay for compensation, a new multi-use facility, and a new town centre, plus the additional operating costs, while still maintaining the daily upkeep for streets, roads, water, sewer and other infrastructure unless they hike taxes?

RCMP Policing Costs

If White City is successful in its proposed annexation, RCMP policing costs will increase for those within the new “one community”.

As an urban municipality with a population over 5,000, the new White City (“one community”) would be required to enter into a “Municipal Police Service Agreement” with the Government of Canada for the services of the RCMP. The municipality would be responsible for paying 70% of the cost of RCMP policing. In accordance with Section 3 of The Police Regulations, the minister would no longer have the authority to include White City under the global policing agreement for RCMP services through the Province.

Alternatively, the new White City could establish its own police force and cover all costs.

Current costs for RCMP Policing Services:

Examples of Policing Costs for RCMP for Saskatchewan’s Smaller Cities:

(note: these costs are the operational or contract costs only. There may be additional policing costs such as capital costs.)

Examples of Policing Costs for Municipal Police Forces:

White City’s “Financial Impact Analysis”viii puts the policing costs for 2021 for the “one community” 2021 at only $292,493. This is not even double the town’s current policing costs even though the town expects the population to more than double and reach 7,865 by 2021 (including the proposed annexation)ix. This cost is only a little over a third of what the costs are for cities with a similar population (specifically Humboldt and Meadow Lake).

Why did the town and Corvus Business Advisors consider such low fees for policing in comparison to other similar municipalities? Did the town and Corvus Business Advisors not do their research? Or did they knowingly present low, unrealistic costs for RCMP policing?  

AND, if the policing costs are wrong, what else should be put into question? Can the “Financial Impact Analysis” be trusted at all?

Background Information

• The determination and distribution of policing costs is governed by The Police Act, 1990x and The Police Regulationsxi. It involves formula that are complex to calculate.

• Section 25 of The Police Act makes municipalities responsible for providing policing services. 

• Section 26 allows municipalities to provide policing services either with its own service or, by agreement with the Government of Saskatchewan or the Federal Government, with the RCMP. There are 12 municipal police services and one First Nations police service in Saskatchewan. Everywhere else is policed by the RCMP. 

• If a municipality contracts with the RCMP as the police service, then it pays a rate set by the Government in formula under The Police Regulations. 

• RMs and municipalities less than 500 population receive policing from the RCMP acting under contract as the provincial police service. These communities pay a per capita fee for policing to the province. This fee is set by cabinet and does not represent full cost recovery and may be updated as part of the annual budget process.

• Urban municipalities with a population between 500 and 5000 who elect the RCMP and participate in the province’s global policing agreement pay a per capita fee to the province (much like RMs and municipalities with a population less than 500). This fee is also set by cabinet and does not represent full cost recovery and may be updated as part of the annual budget process.

• Urban municipalities with a population between 5,000 and 20,000 who elect the RCMP must enter into an agreement with Canada and pay 70% of the cost if the population is less than 15,000 or 90% of the cost if the population is greater than 15,000.

• Any municipality that elects to establish its own police service pays 100% of the costs

• Municipalities greater than 20,000 must establish their own police service and pay 100% of the cost.

• The Police Act, 1990, in section 20, provides that the Government of Saskatchewan will provide policing services in: rural municipalities; municipalities with a population under 500; and in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District. Section 23.1 of the Act makes special provision for the determination and distribution of policing costs for rural municipalities and other municipalities with a population under 500.

• When an urban municipality reaches a population over 5,000, in accordance with Section 3 of The Police Regulations, the minister no longer has the authority to enter into an agreement for the services of the RCMP on behalf of the municipality. Rather, the municipality is either required to establish its own police force or enter into a “Municipal Police Service Agreement” with the Government of Canada for the services of the RCMP. Under Municipal Police Service Agreements, the majority of costs fall to the municipality with the federal government covering 30% (up to a population of 15,000, when funding arrangements change).

Policing borne by municipalities varies depending on the type and size of municipality. Generally speaking, municipalities with more population pay more. Again, generally speaking, rural municipalities tend to pay less.

If the Town’s proposed annexation were to be approved, the increased population would undoubtedly increase the policing costs for the Town of White City by considerably more than a per capita rate increase.

White City’s annexation proposal is a “one size fits all approach” that doesn't work for our communities or residents. There are many choices open to the RM and White City.

• Status quo – our two communities remain and continue to exist side-by-side, working together where appropriate to ensure the long-term growth and prosperity of our communities and the corridor. It’s not a perfect arrangement but it works most of the time; however future developments may require a new way of doing things.
• A Planning District for White City and Emerald Park (and possibly surrounding areas), that encourages joint planning and develops a structure for comment, consultation and collaborative efforts.
• A Planning Authority, which takes planning and development out of the municipal realm and moves them to the regional level. This does not require municipal restructuring.
• A Municipal District. Municipal Districts are new for Saskatchewan, but the provincial government has legislation in place to allow for their creation. Municipal Districts are used successfully in several other provinces to help mixed communities like the RM and White City work together more effectively to plan for the long-term prosperity of their region. The RM is a community of communities, from agricultural, to urban residential and includes large-scale commercial and industrial areas all contributing to the overall success of not only the RM but to neighbouring communities. Municipal Districts present an untapped opportunity to build a model that works best for our communities and flexible enough to allow for almost any governing structure we choose. A Municipal District reinforces the “community of communities” model and allows for greater cooperation and for the RM and White City to truly join together to form a new, forward-looking governance model planning for the future of all communities and residents together.

Speak up!

Make sure our communities and our choice are heard. Tell White City you want all the facts. Tell White City you want to work together on these issues and not be subject to an annexation that threatens regional development and creates nothing but uncertainty.

The RM of Edenwold has a long history of working with our neighbours. The RM continues to develop a regional planning strategy that builds the future together within our municipality and with our neighbours. Our neighbours include one city, three towns, one village, five First Nations and six rural municipalities. Our newly updated Official Community Plan is being built with input from our residents and ratepayers and will be presented for feedback this winter. We have plans for a multi-use facility, more walkways, more recreation opportunities, diversified community service amenities and most importantly we have the municipal lands, utility services and funds to pay for it. We also continue to work collaboratively with neighbours on projects such as wastewater treatment, street and road construction, joint drainage projects and collaborative regional land use, servicing and infrastructure planning.

The RM of Edenwold has a plan for the future and a strong record of building community responsibly. Let's continue.

These are Our Communities, and this is Our Choice.