In one of those Q and A exchanges, minister of finance Donna Harpauer was asked directly by a councillor from the town of Churchbridge about the collection of PST. The minister was asked why they don’t give PST rebates to municipalities and why they need to collect PST on essential service projects such as a water plant or a fire truck. Harpauer pointed out that the PST collected comes back to communities in additional revenue sharing. “The municipalities benefit from the PST that government pays government through the revenue sharing formula.” She also pointed to the funding provided to municipalities through revenue sharing, the MEEP program, infrastructure programs partnering with the federal government, and the 10 percent reduction on power usage, among others.