Municipalities push back against merger plans

The Association of Manitoba Municipalitiessays its members won't be ready to merge on time to meet a provincial deadline.

Officials with the association say the provincial government's plan to merge 92 municipalities by 2014 is unrealistic.

Theprovince wants all municipalities with less than 1,000 people to amalgamate with a nearby area.

But the AMM president Doug Dobrowolski said that won't happen until the municipalities get their finances in order.

"There are a lot of things that municipalities have to sit down and work out, like debt, assets, service sharing agreements," he told CBC News on Tuesday.

Dobrowolski added that municipalities don't want to get stuck merging with communities that have money troubles.

"There are some of those that are willing to go right now," he said. "Give them the resources to do that, but it's going to take time for the others to come along."

Amalgamation will remain voluntary until the end of 2013. In 2014, it will become mandatory.