By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
In response to concerns that their payment no longer reflects actual costs of service, the RM of Corman Park is in the midst of negotiating a new fire services agreement with Warman, Martensville, Dalmeny, Osler and Langham that better reflects the number of calls that each fire department responds to within the municipality.
During the administration committee meeting on April 14, council received a presentation on the RM’s fire service agreement with these five municipal partners, which is currently set to expire on June 30, 2026.
The committee voted unanimously on a recommendation to council that the new agreement incorporate a hybrid funding model, multi-year payment structure and full cost recovery option. That recommendation was then adopted as part of the consent agenda at the April 28 council meeting.
As explained by CAO Kerry Hilts, the RM pays each partner an annual fixed amount of $80,000, along with a service fee per call based on hourly rates for fire services provided within the municipality. This agreement has been in place since 2018.
However, the five partners have made this clear this model “no longer reflects the actual costs of the services,” said Hilts.
“Our partner municipalities have been clear that the current funding does not cover staffing, equipment and facility costs…They basically are saying that if we can’t address this with the agreement, they will start to not provide fire services to the RM.”
Hilts noted that if the RM had to pay for its own fire services, they would have to establish as many as 12 fire stations around the municipality, which would be financially unsustainable.
“The RM relies fully on these partners for fire protection, so stable and sustainable agreements are critical,” he said.
While council did have the option of endorsing a fixed fee model that would see each community provided with $120,000 annually, administration’s recommendation was to provide each partner with the usual $80,000 and then disperse another $200,000 based on call volume. In terms of how that would play out, Hilts indicated that Martensville responded to 67 calls in the RM last year while Osler responded to 11, so that means Martensville would get an extra $67,000 while Osler would get an additional $11,000.
This model provides more balance and equity in the long term and is somewhat supported by the partner municipalities, Hilts said.
Alternatively, the RM could simply push to base funding off of base calls alone, but that would mean some partners not receiving enough money to even be involved. It also offered limited predictability in terms of budgeting.
Councillor Arthur Pruim acknowledged the RM does not want to have to build its own fire halls and purchase fire trucks, but asked Hilts if there was any mechanism to ensure funding was going to firefighting as opposed to some other capital project.
Hilts said the existing agreement does not explicitly say their funding must be used for fire services, though that is strongly implied. However, a new agreement could make it clear that their funding must be kept in a reserve explicitly for fire services.
He added the current fire services agreement is a bit weak because it doesn’t provide any reporting mechanisms. He suggested that will be addressed in this new agreement and more robust reports from the member departments.