WESTLOCK — A proposed five per cent tax increase in 2021 is on the table in Westlock County, along with a series of policy changes that are intended to cut costs.
Councillors kicked off the budget process today with the first of five meetings that’ll go until Dec. 11. They covered the general operating budget, infrastructure, planning and services and elected officials.
The recommendation includes an increase in the farmland millrate, a 14 per cent reduction in the gravel program and closing two waste transfer stations. County admin and Kay Spiess, of Blossom Municipal Consulting, who worked on the budget with them say without the additional service reductions, taxes could go up 10 per cent.
The Municipal Operating Support Transfer, a one-time provincial grant to help municipalities offset the costs of COVID-19, will be used to cover $740,000 of bad debts budgeted for 2021. Those would be the unpaid taxes the county expects they’ll see next year, a growing problem in the last five years especially in the oil and gas industry.
MOST won't be available in future years.
“This document is a significant step in fulfilling council’s commitment to improving communication with the public. Inside you will find open and transparent narratives that tell the story of the county’s financial position and service levels,” wrote interim CAO Rick McDonald in the budget opening statement.
He added results from the public survey have been incorporated into the proposed budget.
New for the county is a focus on economic development, which has mostly been discussed as a regional endeavour with the Town of Westlock and the Village of Clyde. This is likely to impact recreation too — they’re proposing to hold off on a rec master plan until a regional facility inventory has been completed.
McDonald has previously said that rec facilities are one part of making the community marketable to potential investors.
User-pay model
In a series of recommendations for policy changes, county admin says they should cut some of the money the county spends on services that aren’t used by very many people.
“Over the course of the summer, the county conducted a service efficiency and priority review. … It was determined that there is a high volume of services that are being subsidized and it was recommended that the county take more of a user-pay model approach to certain services.”
Proposed policy changes:
- Close Spruce Island Quad Park and the Echo Lake Campground and sell the latter
- $20 parking fee per vehicle at Long Island Lake Campground
- $150 fee for dogs at large
- $10 fee for fire permits
- Hamlet collection fee increase to $15 per unit per month
- Remove subsidy of tippage costs for landfill
- Stop allowing overweight loads during road bans
- Increase water and wastewater rates by three per cent year over year (for inflation)
- Reduce gravel program to 460 km annually
More to come
They’ll go over financial services and the office of the CAO operating budgets, plus the capital budget tomorrow starting at 9 a.m. Another presentation meeting is planned for Dec. 8. Councillors will deliberate Dec. 10 and 11.
The draft budget binder can be found here, and login information for each meeting here.
Town & Country Today will be bringing highlights following every meeting. For more details, see the weekly editions of Town & Country This Week Dec. 8 and 15.
Highlights:
Organizational
- There have been eight CAOs in the past seven years which has led to leadership issues and has had a “major impact” on staff
- Restructuring underway with new organizational chart
- The county has 47 full time employees, which Spiess says is below average for municipalities of the same size; munis with fewer employees contract out the services
- Deputy reeve Brian Coleman said the comparison will help answer questions from ratepayers
- Councillors asked for a breakdown of employees per department
Revenue
- The county needs to diversify; industrial park and tourism have revenue-expansion potential
- Reliance on grants like Municipal Sustainability Initiative to “fill the gaps” left by municipal taxes, but they are unpredictable sources of revenue
- Future of MSI uncertain past 2022
- Linear assessments are a problem: $3.5 million in unpaid taxes over four years (mostly linear) and uncertainty around the provincial assessment model review
- Population decreased by eight per cent since 2011, less municipal tax revenue
Expenses
- New or increasing contract fees total $1 million more than last year: water plant contract with Town of Westlock, RCMP contract up by $94,000 and gravel program
- Coleman asked for a clearer breakdown of all contract costs
- Insurance premiums up by 25 per cent
- Overall reduction in salaries and wages by $82,998 projected after organizational restructuring
- Reeve Jared Stitsen wanted a better idea of where the money for each item comes from
- Coleman wants a separate conversation on councillor benefits; he said residents have been asking him why they’re entitled to them if they’re not county employees
Economic development
- Population decrease, little development and uncertainty around linear taxation mean there’s a “strong need” to diversify local economy
- Planning department to start focusing on business attraction and retention, tourism
