The municipal portion of your property tax bill has nudged upward slightly after council added $1 million in spending to the 2011 budget in the 11th hour.
Council on Tuesday approved several changes to the budget to reflect new expenses that have emerged in recent months. The new items include a provincial fee to process motor vehicle searches, the rising price of fuel and an additional urban planner to help cut through a backlog of work.
The budget amendments resulted in a 3.2 per cent municipal property tax increase — slightly higher than the 2.8 per cent approved in December. Council is set to finalize property tax rates next week so notices can be mailed next month.
"I'm pleased that it's not five per cent," said Coun. Roger Lemieux. "Personally, I can hold my head high with [an increase] under three per cent."
Lemieux said council has been quite diligent about trying to keep municipal property taxes in check, but was disappointed with one of the new expenses — $385,000 for registry search fees. That cost used to be picked up by the province but was downloaded onto municipalities this month with little warning.
Municipalities fought the change, including a letter sent to Premier Ed Stelmach outlining St. Albert's objections, but to no avail.
"It's inevitable," Lemieux said. "There's no way of dodging it."
The changes mean the city will pay $15 per registry search. Officials have said the city files 28,000 searches for vehicle information related to photo radar violations and about 1,100 searches for other violations.
The $385,000 represents the cost for nine months. Next year the cost of registry searches is expected to swell to $510,000.
The rising cost of fuel added $190,000 on the expense side, with St. Albert Transit and public works both dealing with budget pressures.
Planning backlog addressed
One of the spending increases will pay for an additional senior planner to help address a mounting backlog of projects.
According to a background report, planning and development has more work — about 3,000 hours worth — than it has staff to complete the tasks. This has led to recent delays in projects, including the downtown redevelopment area plan (DARP), a flood plain report, and a study outlining possible locations for a new industrial park, in addition to several area structure plans in various stages of completion.
The new position is in addition to a senior planner that was added earlier in the budgeting process. The new position would start July 1 and cost $50,000 this year and $100,000 in subsequent years.
Mayor Nolan Crouse believes the additional manpower will help alleviate the backlog and address future time demands.
"We have so much on the go," he said, referring to the pile of reports and new developments. That includes projects in the north along St. Albert Trail where Landrex has already started Erin Ridge North and other developers, including Triple Five and its plans for a major commercial development, are lining up to build.
Triple Five plans to submit an area structure plan later this year and Crouse hinted another development has emerged.
"Now we've got another possibility ahead of that," he said, adding only that more details might come out this summer.
The workload could increase even more if councillors ask Rampart Avenir and SAS Sports and Entertainment to submit area structure plans for their joint development in the northwest. They'll vote on such a move at a future meeting.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us," Crouse said. "I think what's going to be necessary for us is us adding an additional staff person."
The new spending was partially offset by an extra $760,000 in property taxes from new homes and businesses. Assessment for residential properties grew by 2.2 per cent, slightly higher than the 1.1 per cent estimate in the budget, while non-residential also exceeded expectations.
