Correction
This story originally said a typical Sturgeon County homeowner would pay "some $116 in taxes and utilities next year." Taxes and utilities were projected to rise by $116, but would not be $116 in total. The story has been corrected to read "$116 more in taxes and utilities."
Sturgeon County homeowners are poised to pay about $72 more on taxes next year following two days of budget debates.
Sturgeon County council approved a long list of additions to the county’s draft 2023 budget on Nov. 24 in a 6-1 vote (Coun. Matthew McLennan opposed).
County administration proposed a $125.9 million budget with a 6.5 per cent tax increase on Oct. 27. County councillors made extensive revisions to the budget during budget talks on Nov. 23-24, trimming the budget to $106.9 million and the tax hike to 3.9 per cent.
A 3.9 per cent tax hike would add about $72 to the tax bill of a typical Sturgeon County homeowner, county spokesperson Rhonda Linklater said in an email. Add in a projected $44 increase in utilities, and the typical owner of a $492,000 home in Sturgeon County would expect to pay some $116 more in taxes and utilities next year — roughly equivalent to the price of 10 dozen Tim Hortons doughnuts.
Council approved some 21 additions to the budget which addressed everything from cybersecurity to snow removal.
McLennan opposed all but one of these additions (the exception was a no-cost item to analyze cost implications of returning county-owned land to the Michel Band), and said council should aim for a zero per cent tax increase.
“This is a reckless amount of spending,” he said of the 3.9 per cent increase, one that was out of touch with the current fiscal environment and the demands of residents.
Other councillors disagreed. Councillors Kristin Toms and Dan Derouin said this increase followed on five years of effectively negative tax increases (as those increases did not keep up with inflation), while Coun. Neal Comeau noted how roughly 3.2 per cent of this increase was due to inflation and RCMP costs.
What’s in, what’s not
Council voted 5-2 (McLennan and Coun. Jason Berry opposed) to spend $138,710 to hire the county’s corporate energy and environmental sustainability supervisor on full-time. Said supervisor was already saving the county $23,000 a year in energy costs and had cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 82 tonnes (equivalent to the emissions produced by driving about 18 cars for a year, the U.S. EPA reports).
Council voted 6-1 to hire two operators for snowplowing for $107,942, spend $130,000 on an agriculture master plan, and invest $180,000 into cybersecurity.
The Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation will get $10,000 a year for five years from the county following a 6-1 vote by council.
Mayor Alanna Hnatiw, who proposed this funding, said the pandemic and economic hardships had driven up demand for space in the foundation’s Jessie’s House shelter. She estimated that 15-to-50 per cent of the shelter’s clients were from Sturgeon County.
“I’m assuming, unfortunately, that they’re not going to have any shortage of work in front of them,” Hnatiw said.
Council quashed a $215,350 proposal for more grass mowing in a 3-4 vote (Hnatiw, Derouin, and Toms in favour).
Also defeated in a 2-5 vote (Comeau and Derouin in favour) was a $325,000 motion to fund renovations to the Rivière Qui Barre community centre. While Comeau said this money was needed to make the building usable, Hnatiw said she wanted more information on what support the county had given to similar facilities in the past. Hnatiw noted how council could use its reserves to fund this project after the budget passed.
“We’re not saying no. We’re just saying, ‘Not today,’” Hnatiw said.
Council added 0.15 per cent to the tax hike to hire a peace officer. That officer’s priorities were to be decided later; some councillors wanted a general duty officer, while others wanted one focused on animal control and/or development permits.
Council was to hold a final vote on the budget Dec. 13. Information on the draft budget can be found by clicking on the link for the Nov. 23-24 council meeting at bit.ly/3XHqnwE.
