BOWDEN — Council will make another effort to approve the Town of Bowden's 2025 budget during its Jan. 13 meeting.
“We’ve got a little more juggling to do yet,” mayor Robb Stuart said during an interview with the Albertan.
According to town minutes, as it stands now, total expenditures are pegged at $3,270,522.74 and total revenues are anticipated to be $3,248,561.78.
In the first draft of the budget, the gap between revenues and expenditures was $59,250.96. A second draft whittled that down to $21,960.96.
“The final version of the operating budget must be balanced – to zero – either by making a contribution to reserves or making revenue or expenditure adjustments during budget deliberations,” a document by chief administrative officer Arno Glover said.
Once that second draft was reviewed, Coun. Paul Webb moved that the gap be filled via a 1.5 per cent tax increase.
Stuart, along with councillors Paul Webb and Deb Coombes voted for that motion. However, it was defeated when councillors Randy Brown, Wayne Milaney and Sandy Gamble voted against it.
Coun. Randy Brown then moved that a one per cent tax increase be applied.
Councillors Brown, Milaney, Gamble and Coombes voted for that motion. Stuart and Webb voted against it.
Coun. Marie Flowers was absent.
Chief financial officer Jacqui Molyneux said a one per cent tax hike won’t cover the budget deficit.
It was then proposed that $9,400 transfer to public reserves be removed from the budget.
“We’ve been really doing our best to keep the load off the taxpayer, which is kind of our role, because we had two years of zero per cent increases,” Stuart said.
This budget does contain some increases.
It calls for water rates to rise by 15 cents a cubic metre and and wastewater rates to go up by 11 cents a cubic metre.
The budget also calls for salaries of administrative staff to rise by 3.48 per cent, a cost of living adjustment, Stuart noted.
On the other hand, at $11 a month, solid waste rates for pickup of garbage and recycling are staying at the same rate they have since 2011.
And the police funding model requisition is expected to be $65,985.
“This is unchanged from the actual amount billed to the town in 2024, as per notification received from the Alberta government,” the minutes say.
The Local Government Fiscal Framework, (grant money from the province) is remaining the same as last year; $162,042.
Stuart said that freeze in funding really constricts what improvements the Town can make in the community, especially as inflation increases the costs for materials.
“We’re in the same boat as all the towns are, our infrastructure is getting worse,” Stuart said.
He said last year, the Town of Bowden spent big bucks on sewer improvements.
“We flushed a bunch of them and then lined them, and it made quite a difference in our I & I (water inflow and infiltration). But we know we've got other sections of town that are going to need work,” Stuart said.
“The water reservoir is in good shape, so we're OK there. We spent about $100,000 on it over the last couple of years.”
“I think we've got a little bit of money sitting in that bank account if we had to dip into it,” he added, “but the cost of everything's going crazy, you know, fuel and insurance and everything else -- even labour.”
Inflation could cut the amount of paving work the Town of Bowden can undertake this year as well, Stuart indicated.
“Paving, that's ridiculous,” he said. “Like, I can't remember what a square metre of paving is now, but it's well, way up there.
“And that's something that you have to (do). We did quite a bit of paving projects last year.”
He noted that last year, a watermain break had to be fixed on the main street. The leak itself was repaired, but the street has yet to be repaved in that area.
Stuart said a couple of sewer projects have to be undertaken in the north end of town as well.
“That's going to cost us, I don't know what,” he said.
