County residents could be out $185 more in taxes next year under the first draft of Sturgeon County's latest budget, almost all of which is due to the province and utilities.
County council received the first draft of their 2017 budget last week in a series of budget meetings.
The budget proposes a 0.9 per cent tax hike, which works out to $17 more or $1,911 total municipal tax for the typical $502,650 home, said county commissioner Peter Tarnawsky.
That's less than a third of last year's 3.34 per cent increase and positively microscopic compared to the 8.55 of 2014.
Tarnawsky chalked the small hike up to economic growth, particularly the construction of Pembina Pipeline's new fractionation project near Redwater and the start of revenue from the new DC substation in the Industrial Heartland. The budget predicts some $58.8 million in revenue, up 10.4 per cent from last year.
"We've held the line in every part of the organization," he added, clamping down on optional expenditures such as cellphones and photocopies and repurposing five vacant positions instead of creating new ones. County staffers shaved about 1.5 per cent off their expenditures as a result.
Alberta's economic slump has also made for cheaper contracts, Tarnawsky said.
"We've seen some bids come in 20 per cent lower."
County officials predicted a seven per cent jump in the province's education levy, however, plus a three per cent hike to the seniors levy, a presentation to council suggests. Add in an estimated $82 a home hike to water and wastewater rates, and the average tax bill comes in at $2,079.
New items
The budget proposes some $46.3 million in expenditures, up 7.1 per cent from last year. Included in this are 16 new operating and two new capital projects.
One of those is for a road use program and co-ordinator, priced at $141,710.
The county has businesses that really beat up gravel roads as they haul dirt and gravel, Tarnawsky said. While the county has signed deals with some in the past to get them to chip in for repairs, those deals have been relatively toothless when it comes to enforcement.
"These kinds of road agreements are something we really haven't done well in the past and it's something we want to strengthen," he said.
This new position and program would create a template for future road agreements to specify requirements for grading, dust suppression and other measures.
Another area in need of improvement is response times for road complaints, Tarnawsky said. The budget includes $101,710 for a new transportation call-back co-ordinator.
Also in the budget is $26,000 to plan the county's centennial, $109,074 for a new full-time firefighter and about $176,000 for better gravel road maintenance.
That new firefighter is absolutely necessary given the growing demands on the county's fire department, said county Mayor Tom Flynn. The budget also features new positions such as a senior projects operations manager ($102,710) to help plan future capital projects.
"A year from now, we'll probably see significantly different income once the refinery comes on stream," Flynn said, and these positions will ensure the county has plans to use that cash to address its backlog of capital projects.
Not present in this first draft was the request for $200,000 from the Morinville Community Library.
Flynn said council was waiting for advice from its community services board before committing more cash to Morinville's library.
"I think council is pretty committed to being helpful there, (but) I can't give you a measure of what that help would be," he said.
"We have to consider all the libraries in the region."
County residents can hear more about the budget at a community meeting this Nov. 2 at the Namao Hall starting at 6 p.m. County council will make revisions to the budget from Nov. 23 to 25 before putting it to a final vote in December.
