Bonnyville town council has approved a two per cent municipal tax increase for 2018.
At their April 24 meeting, council passed three readings of the tax rate bylaw, raising the mill rate for both residential and non-residential properties.
Due to a drop in assessments, the increase was needed to make up the difference in revenue. The overall mill rate increase is 9.47 per cent for residential and 11.28 per cent for none residential. This equates to a total average municipal tax dollar increase of two per cent.
"We're averaging an increase of $50 to $60 from 2017 to 2018. That's the impact of the full mill rate increase on some properties," explained Mayor Gene Sobolewski.
For 2018, a property assessed at around $334,000 will be paying approximately $2,118 in municipal taxes - about $53 more than the homeowner paid last year. However, due to the fluctuation in assessments, some residents could find themselves with more or less of a change over last year's taxes.
In addition to the municipal portion of residents' taxes, there are separate mill rates for the school requisition, seniors' requisition, and C2, that factor into the full mill rate.
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Council approves balanced budget
The Town of Bonnyville has passed their final 2018 operating budget with just over $22.6-million in expenditures.
Changes from the interim budget, which was passed late last year, include an increased contribution to FCSS, an increase in lift station cleaning of $70,000 and reducing the lagoon dredging to one cell, a decrease in the town's MSI operating grant, and a decrease in C2 funding.
The operating revenue includes an increase of $166,883 in municipal taxes over 2017.
In capital costs, the final budget sits at $12.7-million. This includes $2.2-million for streets and paving, $2.7-million for infrastructure replacement, as well as dollars for the swimming pool, parks, and sports fields.
Since the interim budget, $86,000 has been added for airport expenses in order to upgrade the lighting.
"Unfortunately, we're in a situation where we've got to do something with the runway lights at the airport," said CAO Mark Power.
Grant funding approved for this year for the town includes over $2-million from the province, $4-million from the ID 349 agreement, $125,000 from the Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP), $27,284 from Alberta Recycling, and $1.2-million in funding from the MD Inter-Municipal Cooperation Program (IMCP).
See next week's edition of the Nouvelle, or check back on our website for the full story.
Council sponsors hockey player heading to Nova Scotia
Town of Bonnyville council authorized a one-time $250 contribution to Ali Macaulay, who qualified for a spot on the Alberta National Female Hockey Team and will be competing at the 2018 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships from May 4 to 13 in Sydney, NS.
"I think this is worthwhile. I’m hoping that we see Ali, at sometime, on the Canadian Olympic team," expressed Sobolewski.
For the full story, see next week's edition or our website.
