WESTLOCK — Westlock County councillors will have to meet again on Thursday to pass the tax rate bylaw after Coun. Dennis Coleman opposed moving to third reading in the same meeting.
The bylaw includes a two per cent tax rate increase for 2021 (up to 5.1928), and an additional increase in the farmland millrate from 24 to 28 mills. Councillors passed first and second reading earlier this morning, May 11 by a 5-1 vote — Primeau voted against.
“I cannot, in good faith, treat one group of residents one way and another group another way. A policy has to be followed, it’s as simple as that,” Primeau said, referring to a supposed disparity between the application of user pay model policies.
At a May 5 special meeting, admin proposed to balance the budget by increasing the farmland millrate from 24 to 30 and keep other class rates level with 2020. They also suggested a one or two per cent increase in the general tax rate that would yield small surpluses which could be placed in reserves.
At deputy reeve Brian Coleman’s suggestion, councillors opted for the middle ground and reduced the overall increase to farmland millrates, while sharing the rest of the necessary tax increase across all classes for a total tax levy of $11,606,000. A shortfall of about $11,000 will be covered by changing the predicted bad debt amounts.
An average house in one of the hamlets, with an assessment of about $250,000 would see about $17 added to their tax bill this year.
Councillors said most farmers they had spoken to understood a tax increase might be necessary, but that the burden should be shared across all classes. On average, the farmland millrate increase would mean an additional $0.75 per acre.
According to the Alberta Regional Dashboard and Municipal Measurement Index, 73.7 per cent of property assessments for 2020 come from residential, 9.5 per cent from farmland, and the rest from non-residential.
As of 2016, there were 744 farms in the county. They contribute around 20 per cent of the county’s tax levy and cover over 433,000 acres of land, more than half the county’s total surface.
The county’s director of finance, Peggy Hardinge, explained that assessments came in lower in 2021 than last year on most classes, so a tax increase to all classes wouldn’t increase the overall tax levy compared to 2020.
She said some oil and gas companies that are known to the county for not paying taxes have not been assessed at all this year, which will also impact their final estimates on unpaid oil and gas taxes. At the start of the year, admin expected about $700,000 in unpaid taxes from that sector.
Roads cost money
Coun. Lou Hall pointed out that the county spends about 57 per cent of its operating budget on road maintenance, and said they should do an “education session” for the public.
“These gravel roads are not made to take the pounding that they do,” Hall said.
“That's another budget issue that at some point we’re going to need to really dive into, is the usage of the roads. And you know, maybe it’s time to tax the farmer that has roads going by his place that he uses for his farmland, who knows. But we have to start thinking forward and realize that we have a problem here.”
In March, however, councillors postponed plans to implement an admin proposal to upgrade the road use agreement policy for springtime road bans that would’ve seen heavy haulers contribute more money for road repairs. A formula based on types of roads used, length in kilometres, and number of loads would’ve replaced the standard bonds in the current policy.
Instead, councillors decided to keep the existing policy but remove the refundable $3,000 bond for agricultural haulers. Currently, oil and gas haulers are also exempt from paying a bond.
The county has one of the largest road networks in Alberta for a small population: over 2,300 kilometres of roads and 7,100 residents.
Development necessary to drive up taxes
The county’s population has continued to decline since 2011, when just over 7,800 people lived in the area. Reeve Jared Stitsen said attracting people who want to live on acreages, should be made easier.
The land use bylaws, Stitsen said, are protective of farmland, but decreasing tax levies have to be counteracted with more residential taxpayers.
“Council, for the past how many years, has wanted to preserve farmland and not have any kind of development, acreages and stuff like that. But it’s essentially the acreages that are supplying some of the tax compared to a quarter section,” Stitsen said.
To Coun. Isaac Skuban, increasing taxes has negative effects on the potential of economic development: “Your county becomes less attractive,” he said.
Councillor squabbles
Last week, Primeau was once again reprimanded for suggesting that there are other places within the budget where cuts could be made but not naming them or offering solutions.
“And this budget would be very easy, all the shortfalls can be found within the budget itself by following good business practices. I'm not the only guy, there’s lots of people who can look through this and find you all the money you need right here, without a tax increase at all,” Primeau said, but didn’t give examples when asked.
He called Coleman’s 2021 tax increase compromise “a joke.”
He also suggested money has mysteriously disappeared from a cash in lieu reserve, that residents (not farmers) don’t complain about their taxes being high, and implied the contract with the Friends of Tawatinaw for the Tawantinaw Valley Ski Hill was no longer valid because it contradicted a recently passed recreational user fees bylaw.
The two have no connection with one another, although Primeau insisted the Long Island Lake fees are ‘precedent’ without mentioning what for. The contract for operating the ski hill was signed in 2018, long before the campground rate policy was even considered.
Earlier today, Primeau said the county will be "slaughtered in the press" and "the public is going to be livid" over what he saw as an unfair disparity in user pay models.
The major point of contention for Primeau was what he called a lack of public consultation on the budget, although this is the first time he has mentioned it in a council meeting since councillors first saw the draft budget in December. That document also included a proposed increase in the farmland millrate from 24 to 30 mills.
He said the information circulating around the table — referring to anecdotal arguments some councillors were making based on their own conversations with ratepayers, in particular farmers — was “poor quality,” or somebody’s “wishes” and “not very professional.”
“It’s disappointing that on the last day of budget deliberations, we hear all of a sudden that there was no consultation done as an excuse to potentially be against the budget, which I don’t think is fair,” answered Skuban, with support from other councillors.
"We had pretty much since December, November to look through this. We also had a survey which a decent amount of people took, so I don’t think that’s the best characterization of this budget process. There can always be more consultation of residents, but I don’t think that’s fair.”
Three major policy proposals in the draft document were modified (Long Island Lake fees) or removed from the budget entirely (transfer station closure and road use agreements) based on public input.
