BARRHEAD - The County of Barrhead debated what to do with a small budget windfall after a policing surplus left $40,000 available for allocation elsewhere.
On April 1, following an in-camera session, councillors decided to split the surplus equally between the economic development budget and general surplus, and include the changes into the final 2025 draft budget. That is expected to come before council's approval along with the mill rate, later this month.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun said the windfall was because of the increase in the provincial population.
"Which means the amount [municipalities] have to pay is spread across more people," she said.
Oyarzun added the lower population stated in the 2021 Canada census also benefited the county.
"[We all know the census numbers] were a bit off, but in this case, I'm going to accept it and stay quiet because our contribution [according to the police funding model] goes down that much further," she said. "I don't have the exact numbers, but we were paying something like $400,000. Now we are down to $365,000 or $300,000," she said.
According to the census, the County of Barrhead's population decreased by 6.5 per cent, from 6,288 in 2016 to 5,877 in 2020.
The Town of Barrhead and several other municipalities saw noticeable population decreases. In the Barrhead area, the Town of Athabasca's population dropped 6.9 per cent, and Boyle saw a 2.7 per cent reduction.
The Westlock area fared better, with the county's population dropping only 0.5 per cent, while the town of Clyde dropped 3.5 per cent.
Many municipalities believe the 2021 Canada census numbers do not accurately reflect the changes in their community's populations, which they believe to be on an upward swing.
The County of Barrhead's population dropped by 6.5 per cent, going from 6,288 to 5,877, while the town dropped 5.7 per cent, going from 4,579 to 4,320. Woodlands County dropped 3.9 per cent going from 4,744 to 4,558.
Reeve Doug Drozd said the increase in the overall provincial population and the decrease in the municipality's numbers meant the county had been more than provincial requirements by several years.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
