While the details still must be ironed out, the City of Whitehorse will not take more than 50 per cent of the gas tax money Ottawa is handing out.

Coun. Doug Graham, who is also the president of the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC), said today both the group and the city council agreed to limit what Whitehorse takes in the new funding from Ottawa to half.

The federal government announced earlier this week it would hand out $37.5 million over five years to the territory's communities from what it collects in gasoline taxes.

'If we did it on a population basis and Whitehorse got 75 per cent, it wouldn't be fair to the smaller communities,' Graham said in an interview.

Ottawa's announcement on Tuesday was on how much each province and territory would receive from the total pot of $5 billion of gas taxes, over the next five years.

Of the $37.5 million earmarked for the Yukon, $15 million will be doled out in the final year of the deal.

How the other $22.5 million will be dished out to the municipalities still must be worked out as part of the negotiations on the package between Ottawa and the territorial government.

Graham expects once the package is finalized, there will be $3.75 million set aside in the first year. He wasn't surprised by the overall total.

The money is for municipalities to spend on public projects including water systems, public transit, waste disposal, energy and bridge and road repairs.

Ottawa wants the money to help municipalities cut the amount of greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere and improve the quality of both the air and water.

While the money is for the territory's communities, it is the federal and territorial government that will hammer out the final deal on the package.

Larry Bagnell, the Yukon's Liberal MP, said today that it is left to the territories and provinces because those governments are responsible for municipalities.

'They don't want to step on anyone's toes,' Bagnell said of the federal government.

Graham said there will have to be some ground rules set out on the money and how it can be used.

Initially, the AYC had some concerns the territorial government would take some of the money before it made its way to the municipalities.

When the association met with the territorial government, Yukon officials said they wouldn't take any money without first consulting with AYC.

This concerned the municipalities.

But Graham said federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister John Godfrey promised him the territorial government would be prevented from hiving off any of the $37.5 million. The minister said the various communities would receive 100 per cent of the funding.

'From our point of view, Canada's going to look after our interest more than Yukon.'

He said it's no longer a concern that the territory will skim some money.

The AYC also wants to see the unincorporated communities, such as Marsh Lake, receive a fair share of the fund.

He said the discussions on how these communities receive money will be interesting since they are the responsibility of the territorial government.

The association wants assurances those communites will not only receive some of the money but also have a say in how it will be spent.

As part of the $5-billion package, Godfrey announced there will be an additional $62.5 million over the five years for first nation communities. Of that total, $25 million will be handed over in the final year.

A press release states the money for the first nations will be determined following consultation with the minister of Indian and Northern Affairs and first nations.

As well, part of the Yukon government's deal will include the share for first nations in the territory.

Graham said he will be interested to see how much of money is handed out to Yukon first nations.

'That'll have a big impact on how the money will be divided,' said Graham.