LAC LA BICHE - Lac La Biche County council has spent the last week putting together the foundations of their latest strategic planning documents and haven't had a lot of time to delve into the localized effects of the recently announced provincial budget, says Mayor Paul Reutov.
He's looked at the budget and gone over some of the information briefings, but he hasn't really "digested" enough of it to comment just yet, Reutov told Lakeland This Week on Saturday afternoon, a day after the province revealed its financial forecast for 2022.
At a glance, said the mayor, the province's outlook for the year doesn't have too many noticeable surprises for the municipality.
"Overall, I'm not seeing much changing," he said, explaining that he and council would have a better picture of the local impacts after they have had more time to go over the details.
The provincial budget is expecting to draw in revenues of $62.6 billion this year, up $20 billion from last year's financial plan backed mainly by projected increases in commodity prices. And while many departments are seeing increases in budgets, Municipal Affairs is calling for a significant decrease. Budget 2022 says the department that oversees the province's municipal bodies will reduce its budget from $1.7 billion last year to $980 million this year.
Industrial assessment
While Lac La Biche County council has spent the week reviewing the 2019-2024 Strategic Plan for the community, the province's business plan for 2022 in the Municipal Affairs department has also been released. The plan will put emphasis on modernizing the assessment models of industrial property in municipalities. The business plan says the department will continue to work with industry and municipal stakeholders on the assessment models.
Industrial taxes make up a significant portion of Lac La Biche County's revenues.
When it comes to how the provincial budget could affect the collection of local taxes, the mayor said careful attention will continue to be given by council on how the province plans on assessing industrial and commercial properties.
An issues associated with that tax collection, says the mayor is the split mill rate that is used in Lac La Biche County. The unique formula allows the municipality to set a municipal tax rate for residential and commercial ratepayers within an "urban service area" that is different than commercial ratepayers in a "rural service area". In order to have the different rates, however, provincial officials have required the municipality to bring the rural commercial tax rate to no more than five times the urban residential rate.
Currently, the 5:1 target has not quite been reached.
Reutov says he doesn't see anything in the provincial budget that indicates the ratio will have to be met this year — but he's not as optimistic for next year.
"I don' t think we are going to be seeing any changes this year, not in this fiscal year" he said explaining that with both the municipal and provincial budgets now set, it would be difficult to adjust tax rates and revenue streams significantly. "Our budget is set and the province's budget is set."
Schools, hospitals and colleges
Other areas of the provincial budget with local effects include increases to the Student Transportation Services funding in the Education department of about $9 million to help offset growing issues in rural school districts. When it comes to the Justice department, the province's plan is to continue to examine the feasibility of a provincial policing service.
A three per cent increase in funding to Alberta Health Services will take that program's budget to $15.1 billion for 2022, and excludes funding related to COVID-19. A $90 million budget is planned to address rural physician recruitment and retention, including $6 million over the next three years to bring 60 new physicians to 15 communities across Alberta, including Lac La Biche and Cold Lake.
The Indigenous Relations department will see a significant decrease of about 25 per cent in 2022 over last year, with annual funding projected at $184 million in 2022 compared to $217 million last year. The Advanced Education department will see $100 million earmarked for capital expansion and infrastructure upgrades — an increase of $15million over last year. The department has also announced no forecasted reductions to operational expense funding for post-secondaries across the province. It's the first time in four years that cuts have not been made to operational funding.
Helping to boost post-secondary focus, several funding initiatives within Budget 2022 target 'back-to-work' funding assistance, including the Alberta at Work program that will dedicate $600 million over the next three years to help Albertans find jobs, including post-secondary training and trades.
Lakeland This Week has reached out to Portage College officials, and expects to have comments in the coming days.
