WHEREAS Section 7(2) of the Alberta Housing Act states that the municipalities requisitioned under Section 7(1) may determine the basis on which the total requisition is to be shared, and if the municipalities are unable to make that determination for any year, the total requisition for each year shall be shared on the basis of the proportion of the equalized assessment for each municipality in that year bears to the total of the equalized assessments for that year of all the municipalities requisitioned;AND WHEREAS the provincial government unilaterally reduced the amount of funding to individual senior foundations by a change in legislation, which disregarded the original senior foundation charter agreements;AND WHEREAS this decision severely impacted funding for smaller senior lodges, leaving the individual municipalities without the ability to negotiate an equitable distribution method among the remaining partners;AND WHEREAS the urban members of such foundations will not agree to change the basis for determination of the requisitions;AND WHEREAS the rural and urban populations served by each community is the most equitable basis of funding seniors foundations/lodges;AND WHEREAS rural residents are paying a disproportionate share of such costs, based upon equalized assessment, which is considered as a wealth basis of cost-sharing instead of a service basis;AND WHEREAS urban members of such foundations do not pay their fair share of requisitions based upon the populations served by each community;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) urge the Government of Alberta to amend Section 7(2) of the Alberta Housing Act to change the basis of determination for municipal requisitions to a per-capita system based upon total population of all the municipalities requisitioned;AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the AAMDC urge the Government of Alberta to amend the Alberta Housing Act to allow for mediation/arbitration in the instance where municipalities are unable to agree on the basis on which the total requisition is to be shared.

Over the past several years, the County of Warner has been concerned over the increasing amount of requisition which it was paying to the Ridge Country Housing Authority. The distribution of the requisition appeared to be inequitable based on the populations of the municipalities served. Local municipalities were not in agreement to revise the method of calculating the requisition and the Alberta Seniors ministry was not prepared to make a recommendation for change. Therefore in 2003, the County of Warner took this inequity to the next level by remitting to the Ridge Country Housing Authority the requisition based up on a per-capita calculation. The difference in the dollar amount was significant, $251,366.81 based on equalized assessment versus $150,721.45 based on a per-capita basis. This was $100,645.36 that the County was requested to pay above the per-capita average. The details of the County of Warner requisition are as follows:MUNICIPALITY 2003 EQUALIZED ASSESSMENT REQUISITION PERCENT INVOICED REQUISITION AMOUNT 2001 CENSUS POPULATION PERCENT CURRENT PER CAPITA PAYMENT BASED ON AVERAGE PER CAPITACOUNTY OF WARNER $334,048,002 66.6962% $251,366.81 3,798 39.9916% 66.18 $150,721.45RAYMOND $84,683,637 16.9080% $63,723.34 3,200 33.6949% 19.91 $126,990.17MILK RIVER $35,897,801 7.1674% $27,012.63 879 9.2556% 30.73 $34,882.61WARNER $11,713,570 2.3387% $8,814.31 379 3.9907% 23.26 $15,040.40COUTTS $11,942,347 2.3844% $8,986.46 361 3.8328% 24.69 $14,445.13STIRLING $22,564,435 4.5052% $16,979.45 877 9.2345% 19.36 $34,803.24TOTALS $500,849,792 100.000% $376,883.00 9,497 100.000% 39.68 (AVG) $376,883.00Together with the Town of Drayton Valley and the Village of Breton, Brazeau County is a signatory to the master agreement of the Brazeau Seniors Foundation for the purpose of providing seniors accommodation. The 2003 requisition is as follows:MUNICIPALITY 2003 EQUALIZED ASSESSMENT REQUISITION PERCENT INVOICED REQUISITION AMOUNT 2001 CENSUS POPULATION PERCENT CURRENT PER CAPITA PAYMENT BASED ON AVERAGE PER CAPITABRAZEAU COUNTY $1,312,025,764 75.94% $171,181.00 6,895 51.96% 24.83 $118,128.00DRAYTON VALLEY $401,966,343 23.26% $54,282.00 5,801 43.72% 9.36 $99,385.13BRETON $13,826,200 0.80% $1,867.00 573 3.26% 3.26 $9,816.87TOTALS $1,727,818,307 100.00% $227,330.00 13,269 100.00% 17.13 (AVG) $227,330.00