North Battleford City Hall is proposing a three per cent municipal tax increase for the 2020 budget. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Budget 2020

City now looking at three per cent tax increase for 2020

Dec 18, 2019 | 3:20 PM

The City of North Battleford is proposing a three per cent municipal tax increase for 2020, one per cent more than the two per cent initially anticipated.

The issue was discussed during budget deliberations this week.

Mayor Ryan Bater says council unanimously supported the extra one per cent increase.

“That additional one per cent is to contribute to our capital reserve, which will enhance our ability and capacity to be able to afford capital projects this year and into the future,” he said. “It’s the start of what is essentially building a capital fund.”

Basically, 2.05 per cent of the proposed tax increase will benefit operations and 0.95 will be directed to create the capital fund.

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Bater said the budget for the year ahead is “very positive for the city.”

“What we are not doing in this budget is borrowing any money,” he said, adding the city is now development a process to borrow internally for some of its projects to be more cost efficient. He added the city’s debt is dropping substantially as a positive sign.

“Our debt has actually gone down $7 million in the last year and a half,” Bater said. “That is very significant. That is all part of our focus on realigning the city’s finances.”

City Manager Randy Patrick related for the past two years the city didn’t borrow any money. Any money it uses from its reserves for a project or purchase it subsequently makes a plan to replace.

Patrick said the city is trying to use this process with most small to medium-sized projects.

One of the projects the city will use its capital fund to help support over the next year or two will be for road development and pipe upgrades at Carlton Trail, as part of the Yellow Sky district of the city improvement work.

“It’s been needing it for some time,” he said, adding the project will help increase capacity on the road system.

The city is also proposing a two per cent utilities rate increase as part of its budget, but no increase to the underground pipes and asphalt replacement program rate.

The final draft of the proposed budgeted will be voted on at council’s meeting in January.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW