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Saskatchewan municipalities expect to lose about $ 51,000 as they reverse a drastic name change made less than a year and a half ago.

The organization announced the results of a vote on Twitter Friday morning where the majority voted in favor of retaining the original name: the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA). The change is effective immediately as SUMA takes the next few weeks to revert to the old name.

“I think the biggest cost will probably be the panels,” said Rodger Hayward, president of the organization. “And even signage is no longer too expensive. The costs will be minimal and we will make sure that they remain minimal to turn back the clock. “

Ninety members voted to move to MoS, while 274 members voted to keep SUMA. In addition to what members saw as a lack of consultation, Hayward said members felt the new name did not accurately represent the organization and who it represents.

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The original name change was intended in part to clear up confusion over the word “urban” which, according to Hayward, applies only to cities, whereas it refers to any incorporated municipality as long as it is not part of the 296. rural municipalities. But in the end, he said not using the word urban at all only added to the confusion over who represents the organization.

“There is no question that our consultation process was not what it was meant to be and I think it sparked a lot of discussion about it,” said Hayward.

The original name change took place in February 2020. Hayward said a consultation was done before the change but did not include many members and, at their convention held that same year, members made it clear that they did not agree with this.

“When I was elected this year, in 2021 at our convention, I made it clear that I wanted our members to have the final say on our name change,” said Hayward, who ousted the former president Gordon Barnhart.

The total cost of the rebranding was $ 67,619, according to a document sent to members that was then shared with the Leader-Post on Friday, but not all of those costs were associated with the name change. Almost $ 36,000 was spent on consulting and meeting fees – a general rebranding cost that the organization says it would have spent even if it had not changed the name. Consumables (including promotional items, stationery, etc.) accounted for $ 12,735 of the total and capital costs such as signs and construction banners accounted for $ 19,067 of the total cost. Consumables and capital costs are considered sunk costs and the organization is likely to incur an additional $ 20,000 to replace all signage and banners with SUMA.

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Hayward said the organization no longer prints a lot of stationery or envelopes with his name on it, so there won’t be a lot of costs associated with reprint costs and said costs will be minimal to update their site. Web. The color schemes and their new logo, which all came with the rebranding, won’t need to change, he added.

Members’ voting was held electronically from June 1-3 following a virtual meeting where participants were able to ask questions and share their views.

Voting was conducted by members electronically after a virtual annual general meeting was held on Tuesday. Voting opened at noon on Tuesday and ended at noon the next day.

“You have to change things every now and then, but maybe it was too much of a change all at once,” Hayward said.

– with files from Arthur White-Crummey

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