The Yukon’s eight municipalities received more than $22 million through the 2023 Comprehensive Municipal Grant, an increase of $1.1 million over 2022.

The territorial government called attention to that fact on Wednesday.

In rounded-off figures, Whitehorse received $8.5 million this year, up from $8 million last year.

Dawson City’s share was $2.7 million, up from $2.6 million, while Watson Lake was granted $2.4 million, up from $2.3 million.

“The Government of Yukon is committed to supporting effective local governance and sustainable local services in the Yukon and is increasing funding for communities to deliver programs and services to growing populations,” the government said in a statement.

The Comprehensive Municipal Grant is the government’s core funding for municipal governments.

The funding supplements a municipality’s own resources in providing vital municipal services such as the provision of fresh drinking water, the transportation of waste water, and the collection of solid waste, recycling, and other services as required under the Municipal Act and other legislation.

The unconditional funding helps municipal governments balance budgets and reduce the burden on local taxpayers.

Grants-in-lieu of taxes for 2023 will also be transferred later this year. In 2022, $9.9 million was transferred to municipalities as grants-in-lieu of taxes for Yukon government properties within municipal boundaries.

“Our government is proud to provide this core funding to municipalities as they deliver sustainable services and effective local decision making,” said Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn.

“The Comprehensive Municipal Grant was created to help communities address the many demands they face. This funding is the cornerstone of our financial support for healthy, resilient and sustainable Yukon municipalities.”

The Comprehensive Municipal Grant was created in 1991 as the government’s unconditional block funding to municipalities.

A 2017/2018 review of the Comprehensive Municipal Grant by the government reinforced key aspects of the grant, including fairness, transparency, and predictability and led to an annual increase in grant funding.

One of the key changes was the $50,000 previously identified as a supplementary grant.

This is now a permanent feature of the grant to directly address compliance with regulatory requirements such as structural fire, clean water and wastewater.

The grant allocation process utilizes a formula that incorporates readily-available data from two years prior.

It includes factors such as population, properties, infrastructure, and the tax base of each incorporated municipality.

The formula is also tied to the Consumer Price Index and rises with inflation to protect municipal governments from broader market forces.