The city has plugged a budgetary hole without resorting to an additional property tax increase.
The budget hole was discovered this spring after the province announced an end to an unconditional municipal grant program, a loss of $622,600 in revenue for St. Albert. Rising electricity rates also added $182,000 in costs for the city.
Council on Monday approved minor amendments to the 2010 budget and reviewed other changes that helped bridge the gap.
“We found a way to deal with the pressures put on the budget,” said chief financial officer Dean Screpnek.
The city was able to cover off the gap with a savings of $215,000 on the internal debt from Servus Credit Union Place, an increase in expected revenues from late property tax payments ($100,000), inspection services ($420,000) from projected increased economic activity and fines from speed on green ($35,000).
Screpnek said there would also be a $35,000 reduction in the utility bill for Servus Place after staff reviewed costs from the first quarter.
Council covered off the remaining revenue shortfall of $67,600 by cutting spending by an equivalent amount.
During the discussion, administration also recommended moving $88,000 to a reserve fund to accommodate Coun. Len Bracko’s March 22 request to charge taxpayers $1 per $100,000 assessed property values to help fund a future LRT and bus rapid transit between Edmonton and St. Albert.
“It serves the future of St. Albert,” Bracko said. “The premier wants to build good transit across the area and the province. We need to work on this.”
Bracko noted that after the new south LRT line opened in Edmonton, Premier Ed Stelmach said there was a possibility of more funding coming to help the line expand faster into the rest of Edmonton and its nearby communities.
Screpnek said the new levy would not appear on property tax bills because it would make the bill two pages and increase the cost of printing, shipping and postage. Instead, he said the new levy would have a separate line in the city’s tax bylaw.
