Municipalities around the southeast breathed a sigh of some relief on March 31st, as the provincial government announced that they would be capping the losses received from the grant-in-lieu cuts at no more than 30 percent. Nine communities were especially affected, and the City of Estevan was one of them.

Mayor Roy Ludwig wasn't overly enthusiastic, as what remains is a considerable sum. However, he is grateful that the move was taken.

"We appreciate that the government reconsidered. It lightens the load by around $250,000. Now we will lose about $600-650,000 instead of $900,000."

"We will continue to work with the province and the rest of council to see how we can best tackle these issues," he added.

Ludwig noted that the budget still leaves the city administration in a large shortfall, and the $650,000 is something that will have to be accounted for every year.

"Council will be looking at whatever avenue we can to lessen what we have to take back to our taxpayers. We've had and will continue to have discussions and deliberate on how we will address this."

He expressed that they will find every bit of saving that they can, so the residents will not have to take the full brunt of load.

"These grant cuts will still hit the City of Estevan to the tune of $650,000 this and every year moving forward," the Mayor concluded.

The Councillors convene next on April 10th, where details as to the next step will be hashed out.