A calculation won't be made on in-kind contributions made by municipalities towards the development of the Calgary Metropolitan Region Plan.

On Mar. 5, the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) defeated a proposal brought forward by the Municipal District of Foothills. It was supported by the two other counties involved in the consortium and the Town of Okotoks. High River was recorded as being in favour because it was not represented at the meeting. 

Vice-chair and Cochrane Mayor Jeff Genung opposed the motion, joining most other urban centres on the regional board.

Foothills Reeve Suzanne Oel said the motion is in response to requests from their ratepayers. She also believed it would provide valuable financial information going forward.

"In the governance committee, we have been looking at the next step of creating our funding model for the future," said Oel. "Understanding the full cost to all our communities would clarify that."

The county sought the total in-kind contributions towards the development of the growth and servicing plans and the regional evaluation framework from January 2020 to January 2021. The member municipalities would then provide the calculations to the CMRB administration for distribution to all CMRB members.

Cochrane Mayor Genung questioned the value of the information, believing it will be difficult to compare apples-to-apples.

"Each of us is putting in what we want to get out of this plan, and I think we should continue to do that. I'm not suggesting that we just turn a blind eye to the cost, I'm just saying I don't see the value in really chalking them up and coming up with a total."

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi also voiced opposition. He said it would also require calculating the cost savings realized from the collaboration.

Rocky View County Reeve Dan Henn voted in favour of disclosing the information. He said a failure to do so would be a blow against transparency.

In early February, RVC council was told Rocky View ratepayers had absorbed $250,000 in additional costs in that 13-month period.

Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson said he saw value in collecting the data for the sake of demonstrating to the Alberta government the costs being absorbed by municipalities.