The Town of Bonnyville has approved their 2019 operational and capital budgets.
Council passed a balanced operational budget, which comes in at around $22.7-million, and a roughly $16-million capital budget during their Tuesday, April 23 meeting.
The town stuck to their guns in order to avoid increasing taxes this year.
Mayor Gene Sobolewski said, “For me, it was more of having to trim and cut back, because there’s a lot of the businesses and residents that we heard over the last couple of months, particularly when the assessors came and presented to council, that there’s a lot of people hurting out there.”
Operating budget
The $22.7-million 2019 balanced operating budget includes an overall increase of $15,426 in municipal taxes, with a zero per cent tax increase plus growth.
A little over $3.33-million is budgeted for roads, streets, walks, and lighting, with $272,000 going toward annual repairs and maintenance. There was a decrease in the summer employment program based on the approvals the town received from the province.
Since the interim budget was passed in December 2018, elected officials’ salaries saw a jump of $19,500 due to increased meetings and additional committees. Reception and public relations rose to include $10,000 for the community barbecue ahead of the Canadian Indian Relay Racing Association (CIRRA) event on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19.
Renee Stoyles, director of finance, noted a number of the changes were made because actual figures came in.
There was a drop in insurance premiums overall, and an increase in funding for Bonnyville and District FCSS based on the 2019 funding agreement.
Other expenses include $465,176 for fire services, $198,820 toward bylaw expenses, around $441,000 for public works, and $1.16-million for the water treatment plant.
Capital budget
The 2019 capital budget rang in at about $16-million.
Grant funding for the year includes $1.79-million from the province, $3.76-million from ID 349, $1-million from the regional ID 349 agreement, and over $1.7-million from the MD of Bonnyville for the regional waterline.
”The final capital budget includes money from a debenture in the amount of $899,910 for some of the town’s portion of the waterline, if required. We would only do that if there was no surplus at the end of 2019. If there is, this amount would be zero,” detailed Stoyles.
Parks saw an increase of $35,000 for the Little Leap Splash Pad’s permanent bathroom, a project council approved in March, along with the addition of $575,000 for trail upgrades to connect the MD of Bonnyville’s trail to the Jessie Lake pathway.
There was an additional $500,000 allocated to the airport redevelopment plan. The MD of Bonnyville is assisting in funding the project to a tune of $500,000.
Splitting the cost with the MD, the town included $30,000 for the aquatics centre feasibility and visioning study, and just over $285,000 for should-do repairs to the current pool while the town awaits the results from the study.
With the off-leash dog park slated for 2019 at a cost of $39,000 included in the budget, CAO Mark Power noted they’re waiting to hear back about potential locations.
”It’s been narrowed down to a couple of areas, and we’ll bring it back to council for the numbers to be approved as to where, and we’ll go from there,” he said.
