Correction
This story originally said that this was the county's first tax increase since 2017 based on an incorrect reading of a chart in budget documents. It was actually the first rate increase since 2019. The Gazette apologizes for the confusion.
Sturgeon County residents will have to pay more taxes next year to pay for police under the county’s just-approved 2022 budget. Morinville residents, meanwhile, face a future of service cuts.
Sturgeon County councillors approved their 2022 operating and capital budget Dec. 14 in a 4-2 vote (councillors Deanna Stang and Matthew McLennan opposed).
The roughly $131-million budget features a 1.8-per-cent tax hike to pay for increased police costs. It is the county’s first tax increase since 2019.
County spokesperson Lucas Warren told The Gazette this 1.8-per-cent tax hike would add about $26 to the tax bill of a $400,000 residential property. Add in projected changes to utility costs, and most county homeowners can expect to pay about $30 more in taxes and utilities next year — roughly the cost of 15 large coffees at Tim Hortons, The Gazette estimates.
The budget itself features 17.6 new full-time positions, including three full-time firefighters, three parks and open spaces officials, and an investment attraction specialist. It also includes up to $120,000 to support the Villeneuve Landing Network; $100,000 to map unregistered ditches for flood prevention; and $25,000 to switch water bills to monthly from every-other-month.
Earlier this month, councillors used some $3 million in significant tax growth revenue (i.e. cash from industrial mega-projects such as the Sturgeon Refinery) to fund more grass mowing; coverall shelters for county machinery; a speed-control review in the Sturgeon Valley; an investigation into waste-to-resource technologies; and other projects.
Mayor Alanna Hnatiw called the budget a balanced approach to the future that accounts for a rise in county obligations and resident expectations.
Coun. Neal Comeau said he hopes the county’s three new firefighters would be spread throughout the county instead of being added to the Namao fire hall so more of the county can benefit from them.
The approved 2022 county budget is to be posted to the county’s website later this month.
Cuts ahead in Morinville
Morinville councillors approved an interim budget on Dec. 13 in a 6-1 vote (Coun. Jenn Anheliger opposed).
Town council received the draft 2022 budget Dec. 8 for debate. The draft, if approved, would see residential taxes rise five per cent and a new one-year tax of 0.81 per cent imposed on all town inhabitants to pay for sidewalk and road repairs. Those taxes, plus higher utility rates and projected changes to the seniors’ and education levies, would add about $465 to the average residential tax bill — enough for about 23 family passes to the Morinville Leisure Centre, The Gazette estimates.
Town council called for an interim budget to give themselves more time to trim this tax hike.
Town financial services manager Travis Nosko told council this interim budget is meant to approve funding for the town’s daily operations until the actual budget is passed. As such, it does not consider revenues, does not propose a tax rate, and does not include any new operational projects.
Nosko proposed a roughly $6-million budget — equivalent to 25 per cent of the draft 2022 budget — to cover costs for the first quarter of next year.
Council backed Coun. Stephen Dafoe’s move to cut this to 20 per cent of the 2022 budget.
Dafoe said spending a quarter of next year’s budget in the first quarter could make the rest of the year difficult if council makes significant budget cuts. He said he would prefer to instead have administration ask council to ask for more money should this 20-per-cent budget not be enough.
Dafoe later specified this reduction would not apply to snow removal, road maintenance, budget public engagement, and the town’s Federation of Canadian Municipalities membership fees, all of which have to be paid in the next four months. (These areas received more than 25 per cent funding in the interim budget.)
Coun. Rebecca Balanko supported the change, as residents are already concerned about the budget’s proposed tax effects and a 25-per-cent budget is comparable to a 1.5-per-cent tax hike.
Coun. Scott Richardson voiced concern that a 20-per-cent budget could harm the town’s library, as it had already dipped into its reserves to stay afloat last year. (The library asked for $567,121 in support on Nov. 23. The draft budget proposed to give them $442,707, which is the same amount they got this year.)
Council supported Mayor Simon Boersma’s move to have administration and council identify potential service-level cuts during the Jan. 18 committee of the whole meeting. Council also directed administration to prepare a public engagement plan to discuss said cuts in early February.
