Town of Bonnyville council voted in favour of a zero per cent municipal tax increase.
During their April 23 meeting, council passed their 2019 property tax rate bylaw, holding the line on both residential and non-residential municipal taxes.
Due to a decrease in assessments, the mill rate for residential has increased overall by 0.81572 mills, and non-residential has increased by 0.4043 mills. This represents a jump of 8.63 per cent for residential and 2.83 per cent for non-residential over 2018.
In addition to the municipal dollars, a portion of the overall taxes are collected for the seniors requisition and school requisition. This year, the seniors mill rate decreased by 0.27 per cent, with just over $87,300 required. The school requisition wasn't available yet, instead, the town was instructed to base it off of last year. The school mill rate saw an increase of 7.45 per cent, and will see roughly $1.78-million collected from residential.
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Balance budgets approved
The town's final 2019 operational and capital budgets were approved by council.
The balanced operational budget comes in around $22.7-million.
"The 2019 operational budget has an overall increase of $15,426 in municipal taxes over 2018, and that is just to reflect a zero per cent tax dollar increase plus growth," explained director of finance Renee Stoyles.
Since the interim budget was passed in December 2018, changes were made based on actual numbers the town received. Elected officials' salaries saw a jump of $19,500 due to increased meetings and additional committees. Reception and public relations saw an increase of $10,000 to include the community barbecue ahead of the Canadian Indian Relay Racing Association (CIRRA) event on the May long weekend.
In capital costs, the final budget sits at just over $16-million. This includes a $500,000 increase for the airport redevelopment plan, along with $500,000 from the MD for the project. Close to $271,000 for the pool was deferred to 2020, and an additional $575,000 was budgeted to connect the MD trail to the Jessie Lake trail. Grant funding approved for this year includes $1.79-million from the province, $3.76-million from ID 349, $1-million from regional ID 349 program, and over $1.7-million from the MD of Bonnyville for the regional waterline.
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Town representatives headed to Ottawa
After appearing before the senate committee, Mayor Gene Sobolewski will be heading to Ottawa to lobby against Bill C-69 on behalf of the Coalition of Canadian Municipalities for Energy Action.
From May 1 to 2, Sobolewski will attend meetings with members of parliament and the senate to discuss the impacts the bill could have on municipalities.
He said the hope for the trip is to reach members of the senate that weren't present during the presentation he gave earlier this month in Fort McMurray.
"The one group that hasn't been heard from are the ones that are at ground zero, which are the municipalities such as ourselves and the other ones that are going to be represented... We're talking to them as a direct voice saying, 'this is how this bill as written is going to impact us and is detrimental effects.'"
Council discussed the possibility of sending more representation but decided against it, with assistant CAO Bill Rogers joining Sobolewski.
"The work that's been done is very important, and needs to continued," expressed Coun. Brian McEvoy.
Council sponsors local hockey player
Council voted in favour of making a one-time donation of $250 to a local athlete.
Ali Macaulay was selected for the Team Alberta female roster, and will be competing in the 2019 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship in Whitehorse, YT from May 4 to 13.
A similar request was received by council last year by Macaulay for the same amount to assist with the costs of participating.
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