Low and fixed-income households could get some relief from rising utility bills next year.
St. Albert city council has directed staff to develop recommendations for administering a grant program aimed at easing the pain from a rate hike that will cost the average household about $300 extra a year beginning 2015.
The grant program would be funded by a one-time injection of cash from the city’s stabilization reserve to the tune of $200,000. It would be for 2015 only, unless council opted later to extend the program.
Though council’s standing committee on finance had approved the motion from Coun. Tim Osborne during its October meeting, council needed to approve it at a regular council meeting as well.
Rather than rubber-stamp the motion, council had a debate similar to the one held in October.
“For me the utility decision was an extremely difficult decision, I think it was one that was needed,” Osborne said, adding the rate changes will be felt across the community.
The rates are mostly increasing in 2015 due to a new supplemental capital contribution fee which will help pay for future utility infrastructure.
Coun. Sheena Hughes had previously raised concerns about the costs of administering such a program, and she said on Monday this was a motion to distract people from the impact of council decisions on the utility rates.
“Everybody in St. Albert deserves to have fair utility rates,” she said, noting the grant would be just a small help for a short period of time.
“The reality is middle income families are going to be hit the hardest,” Hughes said.
She and Coun. Cam MacKay called the grant motion political, and said that money from the province should have been kept in utility funding planning, instead of being phased out incrementally over the next five years.
“This issue is more about politics than it is about helping the people of St. Albert,” MacKay said.
Despite their concerns, MacKay and Hughes voted with the rest of council to unanimously support the motion for staff to bring back its recommendations in the first quarter of 2015.
Osborne addressed concerns about the costs of administering the program by suggesting some partnerships or other methods, such as asking for applications similar to the rental assistance program.
“Just because something can’t help everyone doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help anyone,” Osborne said.
