North Battleford city council at Monday's meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Budget 2023

NB city council approves 5.99 per cent tax increase

Dec 13, 2022 | 6:18 AM

North Battleford city council approved administration’s proposal for a 5.99 per cent tax increase for the city’s 2023 municipal budget at its meeting Monday.

The amount includes a one per cent capital fund increase.

After discussing the proposal, council ended up unanimously approving the recommendation.

It was noted the 5.99 per cent increase was needed to a large extent due to increased RCMP contract costs in an effort to catch up to their pay level, as well as a reduction in the city’s funding from the province’s Municipal Revenue Sharing amount. The impact of high inflation was also a factor.

“As a council, would we like to have two per cent or three per cent [increase instead]? Yes. But we feel that this is a reasonable budget, given the circumstance,” Mayor David Gillan said following the meeting. “Administration did a good job of removing as much discretionary spending as they could budget. We’re very confident of that. We’re very happy that we have arrived at this number at this time.”

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During the meeting, council discussed the need for the one per cent for future capital needs.

Coun. Greg Lightfoot stressed the importance of putting away funds for capital costs.

“If we don’t put enough money into reserves to cover off our capital expenditures, we’re using the credit card to pay for it,” he said.

Council also approved a recommendation for a total of 16.7 per cent increase for the Underground Pipeline and Asphalt Replacement (UPAR) program, which works out to about $36.41 per year. The increase is solely for sidewalk rehabilitation projects, and will raise a total of $475,000 for sidewalk work in 2023. Administration noted that the city has not had any UPAR increases overall in the past six years. It was also noted, the UPAR increase for 2023 affects only the tax portion of UPAR, not the utility portion.

The bottom line when factoring in the 5.99 per cent tax increase and 16.7 per cent increase for UPAR on the tax notice is that residential property owners will see a tax increase of $136.66 per year on the average property assessed at about $153,190.

For utilities, council approved the proposed water services 4.3 per cent increase and sewer services 5.5 per cent increase. There was no increase proposed for Recreation and Cultural Capital Facilities (RCCF).

The 2023 budget also reflects an increase in garbage/recycling service fees (6.8 per cent), as the service provider, Loraas Environmental Services, increased its rates.

Mayor Gillan said council worked with administration over the three prior deliberation meetings to try to bring administration’s originally proposed tax increase down as low as possible.

“It was hard work we all put in the last couple of weeks deliberating on the budget,” he said. “It’s never easy. It’s a balancing act between trying to fund the city at a level that it is supposed to be funded at, as well as being cognizant that rate increases do affect especially those on fixed incomes. So, we have to think of all the aspects here. I think we did a good job of finding a good balance. That’s what it’s all about.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow