Sturgeon County residents could be out more than a dozen cups of coffee this tax season if council’s revised 1.8-per-cent tax hike goes through.
Sturgeon County council approved service enhancements to the 2022 budget Nov. 30 in a 4-2 vote (councillors Matthew McLennan and Deanna Stang opposed).
Council originally faced the prospect of a 3.14-per-cent tax increase — the first tax hike since 2017. Some 1.8 per cent of this is to fund costs related to the province’s new police funding model.
The county has since learned it is projected to take in $1 million more in tax revenue next year than expected due to higher assessed property values, chief financial officer Andrew Hayes told council. This cash would let the county trim the tax hike to 1.8 per cent while still paying for some $3.7 million in service enhancements.
“We feel this would be a very competitive [tax] rate regionally,” Hayes said, one that would put taxes back to near the level they were in 2017.
In an email, county spokesperson Lucas Warren said a 1.8-per-cent tax hike would add about $26 to the tax bill of a $400,000 residential property. Add in a projected $3.56 hike to the average water and sewer bill, and the average county homeowner would pay about $30 more on taxes and utilities next year — roughly the cost of 15 large Tim Hortons coffees, The Gazette estimates.
Council considered putting plans to hire three new firefighters on hold (which would have saved some $332,000, budget documents suggest), but defeated that idea in a tie vote (McLennan, Stang, and Coun. Neal Comeau in favour).
“We’ve heard loud and clear from our residents that the cost of water, milk, fuel, everything, has gone up,” Mayor Alanna Hnatiw said, but so has the amount of work and opportunities in front of the county.
“I think this is the best we could do this year.”
Many additions
The approved service enhancements include 17.6 new full-time positions, including three full-time firefighters, three parks and open spaces officials, and an investment attraction specialist. Also approved are up to $120,000 to support the Villeneuve Landing Network, $100,000 to map unregistered ditches for flood prevention, and $25,000 to switch water bills to monthly from every-other-month.
Council also considered additions to the budget funded with the roughly $30 million in significant tax growth revenue the county received from industrial mega-projects (mainly the Sturgeon Refinery).
Council backed Comeau’s move to buy up to three coverall structures for $300,000 which would be deployed at remote sites or the county’s fleet yard. County chief operations officer Scott MacDougall told council these buildings would shelter county vehicles, extending their life span and reducing theft and vandalism.
Toms won support for a $25,000 study to review speed-control measures in the Sturgeon Valley. Toms said she has received many reports of speeding and collisions from this region and wants to find ways to prevent both.
Council backed Hnatiw’s proposal for a one-year $203,000 project to effectively double the amount of grass mowed in municipal reserves in the county. Hnatiw said residents have long been frustrated by a lack of mowing on public lands used as parks, and said this project would bolster community pride.
Council supported Comeau’s call for $100,000 to investigate waste-to-resource technologies in a 5-1 vote (Hnatiw opposed). Comeau framed the proposal as part of the county’s commitment to environmental stewardship.
“The last thing I want to see in my lifetime is a ski hill like we have on 170th Street in Edmonton in Sturgeon County,” he said, referring to the landfill at that site.
Hnatiw questioned the utility of this money, given the number of waste-to-energy projects already underway in this region, and asked if this area shouldn’t be the responsibility of the Roseridge Waste Management Services Commission.
Toms originally asked for $200,000 to post solar-powered crosswalk lights at several Cardiff and Sturgeon Valley crossings to improve pedestrian safety, but dialed this back to $100,000 for a crosswalk light pilot project at Comeau’s suggestion. Council approved the move 5-1 (Coun. Dan Derouin opposed).
McLennan proposed $100,000 to upgrade signs and fences around Villeneuve for its 125th anniversary, but was convinced by council to change this to $10,000 for public consultation on those upgrades.
Council will vote on the finalized 2022 budget Dec. 14.
