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N.B. 2019 budget sees four per cent tax increase

Dec 11, 2018 | 7:03 AM

North Battleford city council approved the amended general budget for 2019, reflecting a four per cent property tax increase, at Monday’s meeting. 

Mayor Ryan Bater confirmed the actual bylaw for the tax increase can’t be carried until after the city establishes its mill rate. 

“There is still work to do there. We have to set the mill rate and all that, so how that flushes out is still work for administration to do in the new year,” he said following the meeting. “But, the budget as amended was approved.”   

The budget also reflects a 4.5 per cent increase in utility rates for 2019.

Bater said one of the difficulties for the city going into the new budget was dealing with a significant revenue loss from 2018.

“We had a big challenge,” he said. “We had a $1.7 million revenue hole. We had to get right to the point, and talk about how we were going to overcome that. We’re overcoming that with a number of efficiencies.”   
 
Bater said administration will focus on finding $500,000 in savings in internal operations in 2019, and each year going forward, as reflected in a resolution passed at the meeting.
 
The mayor said reduced land sales in 2018 particularly impacted the budget. The city budgeted $1.2 million in revenue from land sales, but realized just over $100,000 in the actual amount for 2018. So, for 2019 and going forward, the city now will no longer budget an amount for estimated land sales revenue for the year.

Bater mentioned it isn’t feasible to rely on the sale of assets to help cover operation expenses.

“Strategically, it makes sense to discontinue that, but also in practice it didn’t work for us in 2018,” he said. “So, 2018 is the last year we will see land sales on a city budget. It’s painful in the short term; we have to reduce our dependency off of the sale of assets, like land.”

Bater said instead the city will develop a proper land fund, where the city will service and acquire new land from the proceeds of the sale of existing land assets.

Another factor in the budget shortfall was reduced revenue from the city’s waste management facility in 2018.    

Bater added any net revenue from that site should actually be going toward assisting with the future capital expense of expanding the facility at some point, to meet the anticipated need for more capacity down the road.  

The overall issues adding strain to the 2019 budget include a slow economy putting pressure on land sales, high interest costs for past capital projects, and property assessment challenges for 2019, Finance Director Steve Brown said in his written report.

Among several resolutions passed in the amended 2019 budget were adding two new positions — a fulltime permanent asset management accountant, and a two-year term position for a finance accountant. These positions would be funded “through efficiencies and savings,” according to the resolution from administration.

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

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