With St. Albert's 2019 budget and a 0.4-per-cent tax increase approved by city council, Mayor Cathy Heron says she believes this shows the new electrical franchise fee is working.
The $104.8-million municipal budget was approved on Monday with no discussion from councillors. The marginal increase in property taxes means the average St. Albert home valued at $450,000 will see an increase of $11 on their bill.
The utility rate was also approved with a 0.01 per cent decrease, resulting in a typical monthly bill of $133.31.
A major contributor to the small increase in property taxes came from the introduction of an electrical franchise fee earlier in the year. The city estimated back in the summer that the new revenue would bring in $1.43 million, which would go towards offsetting taxes.
Mayor Cathy Heron said the 0.4-per-cent increase shows the franchise fee is doing its job.
“The fact we brought it under cost of living, under the consumer price index and the municipal price index, I can’t see us doing much better,” she said. “The franchise fees debate came in earlier this year and it was heavily debated because there were a lot of questions on whether the extra revenue would be used to offset taxes. We have clearly demonstrated that. Any concerns that we’d use that money and spend it on pet projects or do other things, has been alleviated. We have directly thrown it to reduce taxes, which was the goal.”
Heron also praised the work of chief administrative officer Kevin Scoble and city staff for finding efficiencies and holding the line when it came to staffing.
The budget includes 34 municipal capital projects totalling $28.3 million, as well as $34 million for 22 municipal growth capital projects. The utility budget includes $8.8 million for 11 capital projects.
While there were a number of projects Heron was glad to see included in the 2019 budget, she mentioned support for Fire Hall #4 and twinning of Ray Gibbon Drive as being real highlights.
“Hopefully, we’ll have some good news in the early new year around some cost sharing with the province,” she said, referring to Ray Gibbon. “But for the one intersection at Leclair Way and Ray Gibbon, we’re going to go ahead no matter what.”
Coun. Natalie Joly echoed what the mayor said and praised the work by administration to “make our council vision a reality.”
Scoble added he was very proud of his staff in producing this budget. He explained there weren’t any real challenges this year and once the new franchise fee was approved by council, it was incorporated into the budget.
“It was really good work by the staff to really look for cost efficiencies and productivity improvements,” he said. “I’m really proud of the administration and the work they did this year. We do all of our budgeting independent of (the franchise fees) in terms of the expense side of it. That really wasn’t an issue for us once council approved that.”
While property taxes won’t be finalized until the spring, Scoble added he didn’t expect them to change too much by the time tax slips go out.
According to the city, a mid-use home that uses 600 kilowatts of power per month will pay roughly $3 more as of Jan. 1, the date the electrical franchise fee kicks in. The fee starts at five per cent on transmission and distribution and will increase over the next two years until it reaches 10 per cent.
