Morinville residents spoke out at an open house Wednesday about town council’s plans to raise their taxes by five per cent.
About 40 people came to the Morinville Community Cultural Centre March 15 for an open house on the 2022 budget.
Town council tapped the brakes on the 2022 budget last fall when the first draft proposed a 15.39-per-cent tax hike.
After months of debate, council whittled the tax hike down to five per cent residential and 9.77 per cent non-residential, which works out to about $127 more municipal tax a year for the average home and about $652 more for the typical town business.
Budget cuts include all town-backed “Live at the CCC” events as well as the Snowman, French Heritage, Easter Egg, and Best Garden festivals. The tax-supported operating deficit stands at about $1.9 million — its highest point in at least a decade, budget documents suggest.
Mayor Simon Boersma justified the proposed tax increase by citing major fiscal challenges the town faced this year.
“We are short $1 million from MSI,” he said, referring to a recent cut to Municipal Sustainability Initiative funding by the provincial government, and also had to pay a nearly $300,000 bill for the new RCMP contract mandated by the federal government — a contract municipalities had no control over.
“Maybe an increase is warranted, I have no question about that, but why are communities not allowed to be at the table?” Boersma said of the latter.
Boersma said council wants residents to tell them which services they can not live without and what fiscal levers the town should pull to pay for them.
Taxing questions
Former Morinville Free Press owner Ed Cowley (who lives in Redwater but owns property in Morinville) said “there should be riots” over the proposed five-per-cent tax hike.
“After two years of COVID and everyone struggling and so many desperate businesses, you’re going to give them an almost 10-per-cent tax hike? That’s just ridiculous,” Cowley said.
Cowley criticized council for getting bogged down with the details of what to cut and said they should instead set a tax target and have administration create a plan to reach it.
“If management can’t do it, you find management that can.”
Morinville and District Chamber of Commerce chairperson Shaun Thompson said he wasn’t enthusiastic about the tax hike, which could cause hardship for some businesses. Still, he noted that almost all of the proposed hike is due to higher RCMP costs and lost provincial funding.
“It looks a heck of a lot better than 15.39 per cent,” he said, referring to the first draft of the budget.
Thompson approved of council’s decision to not cut operating hours at the Morinville Leisure Centre, saying the town has yet to see the centre’s true costs and revenues during a full non-pandemic year. The proposed tax-supported operating deficit was large, but he said council should grind it down over time instead of tackling it all at once. (Information at the open house showed council would need a 21-per-cent tax hike to balance its budget in one year.)
Morinville resident Mary Benson said she was very happy to hear council had decided not to sell the town’s community bus, which she said helps seniors who can’t drive get to community events and essential services.
“It allows them to be part of our community.”
Boersma said council plans to take a final vote on the budget during its March 22 meeting.
Budget information is available at morinville.ca/en/town-hall/budget.aspx.
