North Battleford city council voted unanimously in favour of the proposed budget. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Budget 2020

City approves tax and utility rate increase for 2020 budget

Jan 14, 2020 | 9:12 AM

North Battleford lawmakers approved a three per cent municipal property tax increase and a two per cent utility rate increase for the city’s 2020 budget at its meeting Monday night. There was no increase to the Underground Pipeline and Asphalt Rehabilitation program rate.

Council voted unanimously in favour of the budget.

Mayor Ryan Bater said the proposal was discussed during the city’s deliberation meetings.

“In the end we have a budget that we believe is affordable for people, but also gets the work that is needed this year in the city done,” he said.

The increase will support the ongoing costs of operations and future capital initiatives.

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“We’ve ensured that the levels of service that people are used to here will be maintained, and [that] we will be tackling some important capital projects, most notably tonight [improving] the intersection at the Carlton Trail,” Bater said.

The tax increase will also help offset some of the city’s current fiscal challenges, according to the budget draft report.

Initially the city had proposed a two per cent tax increase but during the budget deliberation meeting in December council agreed another one per cent was needed for a capital reserve fund. Essentially, 2.05 per cent of the tax increase will benefit operations and 0.95 per cent will be directed for a capital reserve for future capital projects.

The mayor said a major achievement has been the reduction of the city’s debt.

“In the last year and a half we have been able to reduce debt by $7-million, and we’re continuing down that path,” Bater said. “It’s really important for the financial health of the city.”

Coun. Kelli Hawtin commended administrative staff and council’s efforts.

“The biggest shining star to me in this budget is that commitment to reducing our overall debt,” she said.

Council decided to table the third party grants portion of the budget before finalizing how these funds would be allotted. Coun. Kent Lindgren hoped to see Concern For Youth receive funding to keep the organization sustainable and proposed reducing grants to three other organizations instead, so as not to go over the maximum overall value approved for the total grants.

Council asked for more information and wanted to know how it would impact those groups that would have their allotments reduced. The matter will return to the next council meeting for a decision.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow