This comes at a cost, however, to some service delivery, most significantly in the gravel program and waste management.
Earlier today, councillors agreed to move to a five-year gravel rotation on 440 kilometres of roads and close two transfer stations — likely Busby and either Pibroch or Vimy. Other changes, including a user-pay model for some services, were agreed to in previous days.
- Five per cent tax increase proposed for Westlock County: Budget Day 1
- CAO focused on leftover leadership issues at Westlock County: Budget Day 2
- Westlock County councillors want to cut their salaries: Budget Day 3
- Westlock County tax increase could drop to 1.6 per cent: Budget Day 4
The road to zero
Coun. Dennis Primeau continued to oppose a five-year rotation and a tax increase, but ultimately agreed. Initially, he wanted to move to a four-year rotation — the draft budget, with a five per cent tax increase, suggested 4.5 years — a change which would’ve raised taxes back up.
DID YOU KNOW? Each municipality delivers varying levels and types of services. The costs to clear snow or apply gravel,...
Posted by Westlock County on Friday, December 11, 2020
The road to sustainability in revenue, however, is paved with economic development.
“We’re losing people,” said Coun. Isaac Skuban, partly because of high taxes. From the start, Skuban has been pushing for stabilizing taxes and service levels. On Day 2, he said the county can’t financially sustain its current gravel policy.
Cutting the budget for infrastructure with the new gravel rotation reduced the tax increase to 0.1 per cent, but reeve Jared Stitsen thought they could bring it up to one per cent and use the remainder to hire an economic development officer.
Consensus lied elsewhere — with Skuban’s proposal — and the recommendation, which councillors will vote on Dec. 15, is to keep the tax rate as is and use reserve funds to pay for economic development.
A line item will likely be added to Budget 2021 to accommodate $75,000 for the position. For now, it will be paid for with the dedicated reserve dollars. Admin is still in the process of applying for regional development grants with the Town of Westlock and the Village of Clyde, so the funding source is not final.
Councillors are also moving forward with the increase in the farmland millrate from 24 to 30 mills, which was already included in the draft budget. On average, it means an extra $130 per quarter in taxes. The millrate doesn’t include the school and senior requisitions collected by the county on behalf of the provincial government.
Waiting on assessments
The budget that’s going to come in front of council next week is an interim one. They’ll approve a final budget in the spring, after assessments and provincial grants are clarified.
It’s also then that council has agreed to find that extra 0.1 per cent reduction in expenses to balance the budget and keep the tax rates where they were in 2020. Right now, they’re projecting it means cutting a little less than $10,000, but as Stitsen said, they won’t know for certain until assessments come in.
It’ll be up to administration to find those potential places where cuts can be made.
For the capital side, projects will get final approval next week. Councillors agreed yesterday to remove one fire tender purchase and a cistern reservoir from the list of recommendations, which will bring expenses down by $331,000. The fire tender was deferred to 2022, pending a regional fire services review and the potential incorporation of the Clyde fire department into the county’s system.
