The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) was founded in 1905. The association is governed by a ten-member board: eight are elected directly (president and vice-president elected for one year terms, and six directors elected for two year terms); and two are ex officio members - one the elected president of the Rural Municipal Administrators' Association (RMAA), and the other the appointed executive director. With its office in Regina, SARM serves its members in a variety of ways: reviewing and interpreting provincial and federal legislation; lobbying provincial and federal governments to change legislation; communicating important political developments to members; delivering a range of insurance plans and employee benefit plans to rural municipalities; operating a Trading Department that provides the benefit of volume purchasing of products for municipalities; delivering casual legal services to rural municipalities; publishing the Rural Councillor magazine; and administering various funds for municipalities on behalf of the provincial and/or federal governments, including the Treaty Land Entitlement Tax Loss Compensation Fund and the Wildlife Habitat Trust Fund.
Dale Harvey