St. Albert city council gave the final stamp of approval to a 2.79 per cent municipal tax increase by unanimously approving the 2011 budget Monday night.
The increase will mean an extra $52 a year for a homeowner with a property assessed at $250,000, $83.74 for a home valued at $400,000 and $104.68 for a home worth $500,000.
Non-residential property taxes will increase 2.84 per cent, which translates to an extra $311 a year for a business worth $900,000 and an extra $690 for a $2-million business.
Mayor Nolan Crouse said council probed the budget thoroughly to find areas to trim the increase from the original 3.6 per cent while still providing the services that residents demand.
"You're always concerned to some degree that you're providing a high quality level of service and of course without money you can't provide high quality of service," Crouse said.
"We add 1,000 residents every year and you want to make sure that you're providing services for everybody."
Statistics Canada reported that Alberta's 12-month inflation rate was 1.2 per cent in October and 0.1 per cent in November.
But Crouse said it's not fair to compare the tax increase to the general inflation rate because the city's financial obligations aren't linear with the cost of living.
"We're providing different services. We're providing capital for infrastructure. We're not providing milk and bread. That being said, we're very close," Crouse said.
The city benchmarks its rate increases against the Municipal Price Index, which is forecast to be 3.2 per cent in 2011.
Budget deliberations concluded last week but the final recommendations required council approval to become official.
The approved budget will see the city spend $113 million on the municipal operating side and $25.9 million for utilities operations. Municipal and utilities capital spending will add up to $17.1 million.
Ratepayers will see their utility rates increase by 9.5 per cent in 2011, adding an extra $106 onto the average yearly bill.
Three-year budget panned
Council didn't embrace a push from Coun. Len Bracko to adopt a three-year budget cycle starting next year.
Bracko projected the city could save up to $1 million a year if it followed the likes of Lethbridge and Medicine Hat in adopting longer term budgets. He felt such a move would benefit council and staff.
"Everyone gets thinking into the bigger picture and the long term instead of one year, which is a smaller picture, more silo thinking," Bracko said.
He also felt businesses and residents would benefit from knowing their tax payments years in advance.
Bracko's was the lone yes vote for his motion.
"Clearly we're running a big business with significant revenue and expenses," said Coun. Malcolm Parker. "Good business practices would dictate that we have an annual business plan and prepare annual operating and capital budgets."
The current budget process has council and staff looking three years into the future but concentrating on the upcoming year, which makes it more accountable and flexible, Parker said.
"Circumstances and priorities do change and I think we have to recognize that," he said. "Just because other municipalities decide to have [longer term] budgets doesn't mean that's right for St. Albert."
Coun. Cam MacKay also voiced concern about Bracko's idea.
"When you budget so far into the future there's a great tendency to ask for a lot more than you need," he said.
Council did approve another Bracko motion to review the 2011 budget process to assess how much it cost the city in dollars and staff time.
