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Budget debates continue for Lac La Biche County

Councillors look for efficiencies to set $64 million proposed budget for `23

LAC LA BICHE - Lac La Biche County councillors are going into the new week with a plan to finalize most of the larger parts of the municipal budget for 2023. 

After two weeks of deliberations and presentations from staff in all municipal departments — as well as delegations from the public and local organizations — council is expecting to table a $64 million operating budget by the end of December. The budget also calls for $42 million in approved capital projects, and gross projected revenues of more than $78 million. Of the projected $14 million surplus between revenues and expenditures, half will go into municipal reserves, with the othetr half going toward capital funding. 

With more discussions continuing in the coming days, there are still some major projects — linked to major dollars — on the drawing board. 

Big budget items increase by millions 

The Lac La Biche Main Street upgrade is one of those projects. After missing their $16 million budget projection for the utility and surface-level overhaul of the downtown corridor by $10 million when the first round of tenders were opened several weeks ago, councillors agreed to give it a second shot.  They also agreed to increase the budget by $11 million. Tenders for that construction project will be opened this week. The extra budget dollars will come from long-term and short-term debenture loans. Council had originally planned to open the new tenders for the Main Street project last week — on November 29 — but administrators suggested a delay in order to better accommodate bids. The re-tendered bids will be opened at council's public meeting on December 6. 

The Main Street project is joined by the projected $27-million aquatic centre project that has also been approved for funding. The aquatic centre is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. 

McArthur Park plan funds 

The proposed McArthur Park makeover is also needing more budget money. Originally pegged at $4.6 million to create and new-look area that will include walking trails, leisure places, a skate park and a cultural and historic-themed garden space, the project now has a budget of more than $6.3 million. The timeframe to complete the plan has also seen changes, moving from a five-year project to three. 

The shorter timeframe for the park overhaul was proposed by the municipality's associate CAO of Recreation and Community Serices Darrell Lessmeister. He says the reduced timeframe could improve budget implications by reducing costs and disruptions in the future. 

"It might be advantageous to do it over three years, not five so there is less disruption for the users of the park space," he said, explaining that the new budget of $6.3 million for the project — although still an estimate — would benefit from a shorter project deadline. "Hopefully, we are closer to budget if we do it over a shorter period of time." 

Stray money 

Going into the budget discussion in the middle of November, the municipality’s finance officials had projected a slight surplus in funds — estimating about $1.7 million left over after all expenses, revenues and reserves were calculated.  

In the weeks since those opening conversations, more than a million has been assigned to projects, including a waste-water upgrade for Plamondon, $370,000 to run underground power lines near the newly upgraded intersection at Beaver Hill Road and 91 Avenue, and $83,000 in new funding to the Lac La Biche Regional Humane Society. 

The funding to the shelter, says humane society vice-president, will provide some help to what she calls a "perfect storm" that has combined reduced staffing with increasing animal intakes following the COVID pandemic, along with surging expense costs. 

"I guess it's more of a perfectly imperfect storm," said Mary-Jane Siebold during her visit to council to request additional funding for the local organization. 

The humane society was one of several groups coming to council to ask for funding assistance in the 2023 budget planning. 

To make those kinds of additions to the budget, council members have been challenging municipal departments to reduce costs and find efficiencies in their own operations. 

A request from the municipality's Infrastructure Services department to replace aging equipment — ranging from skid steers, to Zambonis, an airport runway sweeper, and an indoor floor sweeper — and to purchase new vehicles like a tractor and pickup trucks to match the growing demands, came it at around $1.6 million. Council agreed that replacement machinery was necessary, and some new purchases should happen — but told department officials they would only allot $1.45 million to the equipment fleet request. 

"You can easily find $250,000 to $270,000 (to cut)," said Mayor Paul Reutov to department bosses making the request. 

Those kinds of decisions, along with service-level expectations will continue as the budget deliberations continue. The finalized budget must be approved by December 31. 

  

 

 

 


Rob McKinley

About the Author: Rob McKinley

Rob has been in the media, marketing and promotion business for 30 years, working in the public sector, as well as media outlets in major metropolitan markets, smaller rural communities and Indigenous-focused settings.
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