20 ariel view of site

The City of Swift Current is getting their funding committments figured out for the constrcution of the new long-term care facility.

The total municipal funding committment required for the 225-bed facility is $15.7 million, or 20% of the total cost. City Council approved a municipal funding share agreement worth $9.8 million at Monday's meeting, and is in negotiations with neighbouring municipalities for the remainder of the funding.

"If all the municipalities close to the city contribute a share that was proposed originally, we would raise $13.5 million, and then the remaining $2.2 million would be asked for from the municipalities that are farther out from the ones close to the city," said Tim Marcus, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Swift Current. "We think that if the ones close to the city are making that committment and supporting it, that it would be easy to go to the outlying areas and ask for some money from them for that as well."

Marcus adds they hoping to get to $13.5 million by the end of the month, saying on Monday that they were at around $11.8 million committed.

Marcus adds the city is also planning to continue the special levy that is being collected to fund the construction of Cypress Regional Hospital to fund the long-term care centre, after the hospital levy ends in 2016.

"We would propose a special tax for the long-term care in 2017, and we would do it annually just like we've been doing the one for the hospital," he said. "We're hoping that we would be able to eliminate that one in 10 years, and that's why we said we would keep the amount as close to $100 as possible, because in order to get rid of that one in 10 years, the amount may be a little bit different."

Construction of the long-term care facility is scheduled to begin in the fall adjacent to the hospital.