WHEREAS the elimination of the Municipal Assistance Grant program in the mid 1990s created substantial financial challenges for all municipalities, but particularly for those municipalities with relatively limited local assessment bases;AND WHEREAS the tendency of industrial development to cluster means that some municipalities will face continued difficulties in attracting or maintaining a local assessment base which is sufficient to fund necessary local government services;AND WHEREAS the financial viability of these local governments will continue to be threatened without meaningful assistance from the provincial government;AND WHEREAS the importance of responsive, representative local government is no less in these communities than in any other Alberta community;AND WHEREAS the AAMDC Executive established a Member Advisory Committee on Targeted Investment in early 2000 to develop recommendations regarding possible measures for addressing the plight of needy municipalities;AND WHEREAS the AAMDC Advisory Committee on Targeted Investment has developed a proposal for the establishment of an ongoing provincial funding program to assist these needy municipalities;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties formally endorse the report and recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Targeted Investment;AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the AAMDC urge the Government of Alberta to implement the recommendations of the AAMDC Advisory Committee on Targeted Investment for the 2001/2002 fiscal year.

In the spring of 2000, the AAMDC Executive established a Member Advisory Committee on Targeted Investment, to provide recommendations on measures to address the plight of needy municipalities. In particular, the Committee was mandated to develop a definition of need within the municipal context, and to develop a proposed formula for allocating provincial funding to those municipalities meeting the definition of needy.The Advisory Committee met on several occasions throughout the summer of 2000, and submitted a draft report to the AAMDC Board of Directors in September 2000. This report was subsequently circulated to all member municipalities in October 2000, and was formally presented to each AAMDC District Association during District meetings in early 2001.The Advisory Committee will meet again in early March to review all member feedback in response to their draft report, and a revised Final Report will be provided to all members at the 2001 Spring Convention.