ATHABASCA — The Town of Athabasca will be ringing in the New Year with a balanced budget after financial plans for the upcoming year were solidified at council’s last meeting before the holidays.
During the Dec. 19 meeting, councillors voted 6-0 twice — Coun. Dave Pacholok was absent — to adopt the 2024 operating budget as presented, and to adopt the 2024 capital budget as amended due to an increase in the town’s contribution to the Athabasca Regional Multiplex.
Councillors also set Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. as the date and time for a budget open house at the Multiplex to allow for public review and feedback on the 2024 fiscal plans. Residents will be able to gather at the multiplex to interact with councillors, who are also toying with the idea of having a feedback session in late spring to allow for tax-payer input on budget priorities ahead of the budgetary process.
The town is expecting to run an operating surplus of almost $80,000 at the end of 2024, with a forecast $75,000 contribution to reserves. Complete operations revenue is expected to total $10.2 million, and expenses are predicted to come in at $11.6 million.
More than $4.5 million in net revenue will be collected via taxes, with $2.3 million coming from residential property fees. Franchise fees charged to Fortis and AltaGas will accrue over $600,000, and $360,000 respectively.
Fire services are expected to cost the town more than $200,000 in 2024, with the biggest driver depreciation of equipment and infrastructure. The public works deficit is expected to come in just under $2.5 million in 2024, an increase from the $1.3 million deficit in 2023.
Councillors approved the 2024 Athabasca Archives and Library board request of $91,510 for the year. In total, the town is predicting to spend more than $120,000 of unrecouped funds related to the library and archives.
Apart from the almost $2 million in expected expenses, the biggest figure in red comes under the multiplex category. Factoring in the operating requisition of $940,000 which councillors approved in November, alongside depreciation expenses and debenture principle and interest costs, a deficit of $1.4 million was slated for the multiplex on the draft budget before capital costs were officially approved.
Multiplex money deliberations
While much of councillor discussion around the line items and totals for the operating and capital budgets took place during budget and finance meetings, every councillor present voiced their opinions on the decision to meet the Athabasca Regional Multiplex Society’s 2024 capital funding request of $95,000 made in November.
The provincial government announced a last-minute increase in Local Government Fiscal Framework capital funding on Dec. 15, meaning the town will receive an additional $179,000 on top of the $339,404 expected in 2024.
During the Dec. 12 budget meeting, councillors consented to commit $50,000 — slightly over 8 per cent of the town’s total operating budget — as the contribution to the Athabasca Regional Multiplex Society’s 2024 capital requisition.
In light of the extra provincial funding, mayor Rob Balay said meeting the Multiplex Society's request was, in his opinion, the right thing to do.
“I think it’s proper,” Balay told fellow councillors at the Dec. 19 meeting. “We do have an agreement with our municipal partner to go 50/50, and this will be the first time (we weren’t) going to honour that, based on the previous discussions.
“I’m willing to make a motion that council approve $95,000 for the Athabasca Regional Multiplex capital budget,” said Balay.
Coun. Jon LeMessurier echoed the mayor’s sentiment and said that in the future, the town will have to reassess the cost-sharing agreement with Athabasca County when it comes to funding the multiplex.
“We need to make sure we have those honest conversations with our municipal partners at the multiplex level going forward. We’ve had many discussions — as a town, we’re struggling, we can’t put so much money into one pot when we have such aging infrastructure and we’re seeing everything else we have to try and maintain and replace,” said LeMessurier.
Councillors discussed allocating 10 per cent of the total capital funds received from the provincial government, including LGFF and the Canadian Community-Building Fund, to the multiplex capital budget.
“I’m a bit more comfortable with what we discussed at budget, just based on the situation that our municipality’s in myself,” said Coun. Sara Graling. “I think it quickly becomes a multiplex capital budget annually, as opposed to a community, a town capital budget.”
Coun. Ida Edwards noted other aspects of town life get a smaller piece of the fiscal pie.
“It was really hard to even have this conversation and say ‘yeah we’ll go down to $50,000,’ and bite the bullet, so to speak. And now to say ‘oh, we’ve got a windfall from the government, let’s swing the other way,’ … when we also have so much need in other areas of our community. I could think of five other projects that could go to right now that would cost that amount,” said Edwards.
Following the discussion, councillors voted 6-0 to approve the capital requisition of $95,000, along with a second unanimous vote to set the $251,558 previously approved for the solar photovoltaic project in a restricted reserve under the control of the town.
“The multiplex is a huge, huge benefit to our community, and we do have to make sure that that facility is kept up with serving our region, or I think we’re going to see a huge decrease in families and individuals here, and definitely would not help with attracting more here,” added LeMessurier.
