DIDSBURY - The Town of Didsbury received a passing grade in a recent financial survey conducted by Alberta Municipal Affairs.
In his monthly report to council, presented at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting before the election, Ethan Gorner, the town's chief administrative officer, told council that the municipality is deemed to be “not at risk” and has a “healthy standing” based on financial and governance risk indicators examined during the survey, conducted to ensure municipalities are viable and accountable.
The survey examined 13 specific indicators, including tax base balance, tax collection rate, accumulated surplus/debt, debt to revenue percentage, debt service to revenue percentage and investment in infrastructure.
The tax base balance is the percentage of the total tax revenue that is collected from residential and farmland properties. A rate of 95 per cent or higher of the municipality’s tax revenue would trigger an indicator; Didsbury’s rate is 90.84 per cent.
The tax rate indicator is triggered if a municipality collects less than 90 per cent of the property taxes levied; Didsbury's rate is 90.84 per cent.
The debt to revenue percentage indicator is triggered when a municipality’s debt is greater than 120 per cent of its total revenue; Didsbury’s rate is 32.93 per cent.
The debt service to revenue percentage indicator is triggered when principle and interest payments on borrowings is greater than 20 per cent of the municipality’s total revenue; Didsbury’s rate is 5.20 per cent.
The infrastructure age indicator is triggered when the net book value of the tangible capital assets is less than 40 per cent of the original cost; Didsbury’s rate is 62.89 per cent.
“The ministry has compiled and verified the data collected from Alberta’s municipalities for the 2020 financial year and is pleased to inform you that your municipality did not trigger the required number of indicators to appear in this year’s municipal indicator results report,” assistant deputy minister Gary Sandberg said in a letter to the town.
Councillors also accepted Gorner’s report as information.
The Town of Carstairs also recently received a “not at risk” rating in the survey.
