SARM's President Ray Orb will be stepping down after 20 years on the board and nine years as president, leaving the organization in another's hands.
Orb will be succeeded by Vice President Bill Huber who will be acting president until a replacement is elected during the next annual SARM convention in March.
Orb announced earlier this year he wouldn't be running and is now leaving the post as he wants to enjoy the summer.
"I announced at our March convention here in Regina that I wouldn't be running again. So, I'm president, my term isn't supposed to be up until March 25, but because I announced I'm not running again in my home RM, I wouldn't be eligible to continue. So, I thought I'd be proactive and I wanted to take some more time off this summer."
"You know spend some time with my family, I have 3 children that are grown up and they have families too. So, we have grandchildren. So, my wife and I just simply thought it was time to start slowing down and I think I'm going to enjoy it, although it's going to be a big change, that's for sure."
After two decades of working with SARM Orb says that helping to encourage tax fairness for rural communities has been a big part of his tenure.
"I think one of the things that we were facing, prior to 2004, rural municipality ratepayers within the boundaries of the RMs in this province, were dealing with a really unfair education tax system. Our farmers were paying really exorbitant amounts of taxes on farmland as far as education taxes."
"Keep in mind, we pay taxes on our land, municipal taxes, but there are also education taxes that are levied on all classes of property. There really was an inequity on farmland and so SARM actually hosted a rally in 2004."
"I think looking back, that's probably one of the highlights where we actually opposed the the provincial government on what they were doing with that taxation plan. We held a rally, we got many people supporting us, many RM's, many, many farmers or ranchers came to Regina and supported us. Over the years that followed we were able to convince the provincial government that it needed to change and it did change."
The municipal revenue sharing policy was also a big part of SARM's work over the years.
Orb's work with agricultural groups kept him busy throughout his tenure.
"We meet with all commodity groups and other organizations within the province, we do meet with associations outside of the province too. We do a lot of lobbying on the federal front as well, but we have a really good relationship with the Saskatchewan Cattle Association and the Saskatchewan Stockgrowers who we meet very regularly."
"We try to recommend changes to insurance programs, you know, forage insurance. We worked with the province in conjunction with some individuals to bring in livestock pricing and things like that. So I think we've got a reputation that's respected, not around the province, but across the country as well by other organizations."
Orb says that now he'll look to enjoy life, potentially taking up other jobs as they're available in the future.
"I'm just jokingly saying I want to do more fishing which I do want to do, but I'm going to take some time off and just kind of think about what I'd like to do in the future. I'm probably open to some ideas if someone wants to talk to me about doing some part-time work, maybe advising or something like that. I'd be open to that, but I'm just going to wait and see for now what actually comes up."
Orb thanked the board that he worked with over the years and the staff who made it possible and says he'll miss the job.