WESTLOCK — A proposal from Westlock County deputy reeve Brian Coleman to slash councillor salaries by five per cent is on the table for Budget 2021.
The proposed salary decrease would result in nearly $14,000 in savings and received some level of unanimous agreement from other councillors. It would put councillor salaries at the same level as 2017, when they were first elected.
To some, including Coleman and Coun. Lou Hall, the reduction is about “perception,” since it won’t yield that much in savings. But Coun. Isaac Skuban countered: he suggests they should “lead by example” since they’re also proposing cuts to services.
Coleman’s suggestion was put forward during Day 1 of deliberations yesterday. The priority for council is to reduce the proposed five per cent tax increase as much as possible, reeve Jared Stitsen told the News last week when budget presentations concluded. They’ll meet again tomorrow and possibly Friday.
- Five per cent tax increase proposed for Westlock County: Budget Day 1
- CAO focused on leftover leadership issues at Westlock County: Budget Day 2
In addition, Coleman thinks councillors should opt out of the county’s benefits plan and instead receive a $200 monthly health spending budget. He says it would result in $21,000 in savings.
Although he agrees with the drop in councillor salaries, Coun. Dennis Primeau says the fact that it comes before an election is not so helpful for public perception.
“That’s where our communications tool comes in, that it’s time to cut,” said Hall. “We have to be fiscally responsible like everywhere else is being fiscally responsible.”
The proposals come after what Coleman called “negative feedback” of last year’s 1.5 per cent salary increase and questions from taxpayers about benefit spending.
Priorities on the table
It’s relatively unanimous among councillors that their priority during deliberations is to find ways to reduce the five per cent proposed tax increase for 2021 — that means finding about $600,000 in savings.
Admin and councillors didn’t entirely agree on what to do with transfers to reserves. This year, admin proposed a $110,000 transfer into the operating reserves, but for Hall, “that’s not a priority this year.”
She said she’s “less eager to transfer money into reserves” and would rather focus on taxes for 2021 since it’s an “oddball year.” Plus, COVID-19 can trigger their emergency reserves “so we have that if we need it,” she said.
For the last three years, consultant Kay Spiess said, the county has been withdrawing from reserves to cover shortfalls in revenue, but they haven’t replenished them at the same rate. The purpose of Budget 2021, she said over the course of the three budget days, is to plan long-term, and councillors can’t think “every year is an oddball year.”
“I’ve never seen an oddball year like this one, just saying,” responded Hall.
Interim CAO Rick McDonald reminded them that with a continuing revenue problem, “you’ll eventually run out” of reserves.
“There has to be a middle ground” between savings and taxes, he said, since “next year is going to be just as tough.” McDonald explained that increasing costs and revenue shortfalls put pressure on small rural municipalities. He compared Sturgeon County’s much larger revenue but smaller road network — around 1,400 km of gravel roads — to the county’s 2,300 km.
Skuban thinks councillors should shift to a five-year gravel schedule, close all four transfer stations and not increase taxes at all. For him, the purpose is stability to draw investment. But, he says, they have to send a message that they understand high taxes are a problem, so are bad roads and a decrease in assessments.
Coun. Victor Julyan is not entirely opposed to a tax increase, but perhaps not the proposed five per cent. “We’re in our last year and we’ve got a duty to leave this organization in a good state,” he said.
Coleman’s additional suggestion was a shift in how the county pays for their gravel program. He thought using the gravel the county crushes would save about $200,000, but the program is mostly funded through grants and a $75,000 transfer from reserves, not municipal taxes.
Tawatinaw under fire, again
The usual suspect is back on the agenda too: Primeau, who is opposed to any cuts in infrastructure spending and an increase in taxes, wants the county to sell the Tawatinaw Ski Hill.
“Sell the sucker even if you make $50,000 on it” he said, because the county, “one of the poorest municipalities in Alberta,” can’t spend that much on recreation. The entire budget for community and recreation sits at $1.14 million.
Under the current contract with the Friends of Tawatinaw, the non-profit that operates the ski hill, the county contributes $200,000 for operating expenses and $50,000 for capital. That funding arrangement expires October 2021, and the non-profit is looking for an extension that would preserve the same operating budget funding.
Primeau also had a problem with the upgrades the Friends want to make to the hill, like a magic carpet.
“If they want to build the Taj Mahal out there, they’re not spending more than we’re giving them,” retorted Stitsen. For the reeve, the ski hill is proof of success since they’ve doubled visitors, and made use of the chalet profitably.
His insistence caused a brief argument among councillors, with both Stitsen and Skuban urging him to “come back with a list of services to cut.”
“You’ve got to specify where you’d rather draw money from,” Skuban told him, since the ski hill would only cover about $200,000 of the $600,000 shortfall.
The debentures for the chalet end in 2023 and for the shop in 2024. Regardless of the hill’s future, the county still has to pay the debts it incurred after the 2013 chalet construction, before the sitting council was elected.
Highlights:
- After a meeting with Rural Municipalities of Alberta last week, admin expects Municipal Sustainability Initiative funding to drop by 25 per cent
- AFRACCS radios for county’s protective services to be put off to next year; cistern water for Station 1 ($31,000) taken off the capital projects list
- Admin pushing to replace the fire tender: “I’d hate for us to not proceed with this,” says Laurie Strutt, planning and community services director; too many fires east of Clyde
- Some issues with policy direction came out during the discussion on a proposed $15 garbage collection fee: admin not sure if councillors want a user pay model or cost recovery after Primeau disagreed with the proposal
- Road use agreements between the county and interested parties are a possibility for those who want to drive heavy vehicles during road bans
- Planning department identified list of “hiccups” in the land use bylaws and municipal development plan that should be addressed; poor farmlands could be opened up for development but Primeau wants an evaluation of public interest
- Changes have to be made anyway to accommodate recent LiDAR data for the Pembina River flood overlay, says Coleman
- Updating the documents would cost an estimated $34,000 for the 12- to 18-month process
- Red tape reduction money from the province could go to setting up online fire permits
- Admin offered a “last-minute” case study for an extra full-time peace officer
- More options on the table for Echo Lake and Spruce Island; some councillors still in favour of selling Echo Lake
