Local schools are not happy over the Local Improvement Program pegged to help pay for water main replacement in Moose Jaw.

The Prairie South School division estimates they'll be on the hook for about $1.35 million worth of water main work over 20 years based on the frontage of their Moose Jaw facilities.

Despite public meetings and the fact they have a City Councillor on their board in Brian Swanson, Prairie South Director of Education Tony Baldwin says they didn't totally grasp how the project would affect them.

"They talked about it several months ago and they had a set of numbers and those numbers concerned us. Then the whole thing seemed to fall off the map but then on Monday night there were a whole different set of numbers came out that were significantly higher, so that's the reason for our concern."

Baldwin says Prairie South trustees will attend next Monday's council meeting in hopes of having schools exempt from paying for the water main replacement program. He argues that if they have to pay, then it's going to impact education in Moose Jaw and rural areas. A press release from the board questions why residents from outside of the city should have to pay for infrastructure projects in Moose Jaw.

“The School Division is in a very tight fiscal position already as a result of funding restraint at the provincial level. The Moose Jaw tax means that the school division will be asked to divert funds intended for education in 23 other communities – it doesn't make sense; why would someone in Assiniboia want to pay for Moose Jaw’s infrastructure?” questioned Board Chair Dr. Shawn Davidson.

According to the reported presented to councillors this week, the cost of the repairs is split by the number of properties in the impacted area.  The city covers 70 percent of the cost and residents pay 30 percent of the cost to replace the cast iron pipes in front of their property.  If Prairie South is successful in their efforts to avoid the costs, their 1.35 million dollar share would have to be picked up by residents who live in the same area as the schools, based on the current funding model that has been approved.

Alternatively, city council would have to explore other funding options and then present that model to the province for approval, delaying work even further.