Economic SPC engaging in ‘Budget 101’
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on October 18, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com City residents could see an average annual tax increase of 3.77 per cent for the next four years.Council, acting as the Economic Standing Policy committee, will be doing budget deliberations in November with a deadline of Dec. 31 to set a new operating budget.
City treasurer Darrell Mathews this morning will be giving mayor and council in their roles as Economic SPC members a Budget 101 presentation at their meeting which begins at 9:30 a.m. in council chambers.
For the past three years, council has not increased the municipal portion of residential taxes following a 1.82 per cent hike in 2019, which was the City’s lowest in 20 years.
After Mathews speaks, the SPC will hear presentations from numerous City departments. On Wednesday, presentations to the SPC will continue in a second meeting which also begins at 9:30 a.m.
The forecast increase to the base budget amounts to an average of $94.20 per single family residence based on an average market value of $285,800 next year. Monthly, that equates to $7.85 per household. The base budget, says the City, is what’s required to maintain current service levels.
According to the City, Lethbridge is $177 below the provincial average when the total annual property tax on a median single value home across 21 other comparable provincial municipalities is considered.
The City, Mathews told media on Monday, is facing numerous pressures from inflation, growth and such matters as reductions in grant funding.
The SPC will be going over the draft operating budget for 2023-26 along with potential new initiatives, said Mathews.
From Nov. 14-18 council will deliberate on the budget with approval expected to come Nov. 29 although that date could change if consensus isn’t reached.
Every department general manager and their staffs, along with financial administrative managers and others have been working on developing a four-year operating budget. Work started on it in January, said Mathews.
External pressures include the 15 per cent reduction in grants in lieu of taxes and loss of photo radar revenues which resulted in a reduction of $1.2 million in revenue, Mathews said.
On Monday, Mayor Blaine Hyggen said he was a strong advocate for keeping the police budget at its past level in the last deliberations.
“The reduction definitely, in my opinion, has been a struggle with our community because having the safety aspect that comes along with that I believe has been altered a little bit. So I think it’s important to get that budget back,” said Hyggen.
Under the Municipal Government Act, each council must adopt an operating budget and capital budget for each calendar year. Municipalities must also prepare written plans respecting anticipated financial operations of a period of at least the next three financial years and a written plan on anticipated capital property additions over a period of at the next five financial years. Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter 4
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