The Town of Princeton will receive $1.9 million from the provincial government, a fulfillment of the $1 billion promise to communities in the recently tabled budget.
The announcement was made Friday, March 3, and also includes $4.4 million to the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS) and $1.4 million for Keremeos.
“Local governments know what their communities need, and the need for flexible funding that they can use to help support people through projects unique to each community is clear,” said Roly Russell, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen, in a release.
“It’s exciting to be able to provide so much support to the local leaders to help deliver on these community priorities. And recognizing that smaller communities struggle with capacity, it’s great news that there is extra support for these smaller communities.”
Princeton Mayor Spencer Coyne said the financial infusion is a welcome one, but he is unsure where the money will be spent.
“There are so many things that we are trying to accomplish.”
According to the province, the one-time grant is meant to complement, rather than displace existing infrastructure funding.
“It’s great,” said Coyne. “It’s money that we didn’t anticipate. It will help with a project that was probably on the radar for the future. Hopefully we can put it towards something that, if we did it in the future, would probably cost a lot more than today.”
Coyne said he won’t have any more information about how the grant will be spent until council can meet and discuss the matter.
The $1 billion from the Growing Communities Fund was distributed to 188 municipalities and regional districts.
At the time of publication, the Spotlight was unable to reach RDOS Chair Mark Pendergraft or Keremeos Mayor Jason Wiebe.
Related: Hope and fear: 2023-2024 B.C. budget draws range of reactions
Related: Finance minister addresses B.C.’s budget impact on Okanagan
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:andrea.demeer@similkameenspotlight.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.