County residents will have a slightly smaller tax bill next year thanks to last week's budget tweaks, and could see an even smaller one if one councillor has his way.
County council made numerous changes to the draft 2012 budget that resulted in a slight dip in the proposed residential tax increase, said Rick Wojtkiw, the county's general manager of corporate services. The tax hike dropped to 6.85 per cent from 7.42, meaning the average homeowner would now pay about $90.08 more next year instead of $98.
That was still too much for Coun. David Kluthe, who said he planned to propose a two-year wage freeze for council and administration to further reduce the hike.
"It's happening all over the place," he said. "I think we should be doing the same."
Cuts and additions
Council agreed to add about $226,000 to the operating budget for culvert and ditch maintenance, drainage studies, a local road reconstruction strategy and an area structure plan for Highway 642, Wojtkiw said. These items would be funded using the county's municipal sustainability initiative grants and would not affect the tax rate.
This year's floods highlighted plenty of problem ditches in the county, said Coun. Ken McGillis. Reports to council suggest that staff had a backlog of about 196 ditches and culverts to fix, 50 more than they had back in May. The $100,000 for this item would hire a contractor to address this backlog.
"It's imperative that we make sure the ditches are clean and the culverts are in good shape," McGillis said.
Council agreed to take $125,000 from its reserves for studies and permits related to the North West Upgrader should it resume construction, Wojtkiw said. They also added $8,000 to put streetlights at a hazardous rail crossing on Opal Road, $100,000 to fill a vacant engineering position, and $75,000 to do an industrial land strategy. Council trimmed $14,000 from the budget by deferring work on Township Road 572.
Coun. Tom Flynn said he convinced council to add $200,000 to its operating reserves next year, part of an effort to make up for the $500,000 it took out this year. He also moved to lop $50,000 from council's travel budget. "We're trying to tighten up everywhere we can."
Council also decided to take out a $425,000 loan for road work. Road and bridge work make up about 69 per cent of the county's capital budget, according to council documents.
This was an attempt to keep the tax rate down, Flynn said. "We have to pay for it in the future," he said, but the county should be in a better position to pay then as projects such as the North West Upgrader come online.
The current budget proposes that the county boost its water rates by 15 per cent for three consecutive years to create reserves for its water systems. Council has decided to spread these hikes over five years, McGillis said, but has yet to set the rate hikes for each year.
The budget goes before council for first reading on Dec. 13.
