Council has put its final stamp of approval on the 2012 budget, which will see property taxes increase 2.8 per cent and a 9.5 per cent hike in utilities.
Councillors first debated and voted on six outstanding motions before signing off on the utility, capital and operating budgets for the coming year. The 2.8 per cent increase is .01 percentage points below what administration initially recommended two months ago.
Council approved Monday motions to reduce training funds in the budget by $50,000, add $50,000 for Special Olympics legacy projects, add $6,000 to the budget so St. Albert is represented at the Communities in Bloom national conference at the Enjoy Centre and cover the utilities for the Michif Cultural and Resources Institute at a cost of $7,500. Motions to increase funding to NABI — first by $10,000 then $5,000 — and to add $534,000 for a functional alignment study to extend LRT from the future south park and ride to the city's north were defeated.
“After four or five weeks of deliberations, it's somewhat different but somewhat similar in the final result,” said Coun. Cathy Heron. “Council has worked hard, administration has worked hard. It's time to pass this and we need to move on.”
In total, the capital budget will feature $69 million in spending, with an additional $21 million for capital utility work. The operating budget will come in at almost $120 million.
The six-week exercise kicked off at the end of October with administration's presentation of the draft budget, which council accepted and referred to committee of the whole. After hearing several evenings worth of presentations from all affected departments, councillors worked their way through approximately 70 separate motions before referring the budget to council for approval.
Highlights of the budget include resurrecting and fast-tracking the whistle cessation program to stop trains from whistling in the middle of the night, partially funding the new Spirit of St. Albert Society, a group that wants to keep some of the 150th celebrations alive and running, full-day transit service to North Ridge, a new RCMP sergeant and thousands of dollars in new tree plantings and replacements across the city.
