PENHOLD – For many Penhold residents creating additional green space is worth a slight tax increase in 2019.
“When we did our recreation survey, (trails) were by quite a large margin, the highest priority from residents,” said Penhold mayor Mike Yargeau. “The majority of respondents said they would be comfortable with around a one per cent tax increase to help pay for these recreational services.”
The Town of Penhold recently passed its operating and capital budgets. Trish Willis, corporate services manager, presented details of the 2019 budget at a regular council meeting on Nov. 23.
On the municipal side, there will be a one per cent tax increase,” said Yargeau, noting trails, playground structures and an off leash dog park were identified as the top three priorities in last year’s outdoor recreation survey.
The total operating budget for 2019 is $10,916,498, up about $700,000 from $10,212,579 in 2018. The 2019 capital budget is $2,145,520, an increase of about $438,000 from $1,707,420 last year.
Yargeau said it’s been a difficult year with a decrease in provincial funds and in assessment values over the previous year.
“This year, as with every municipality around Central Alberta, we noticed a decrease in our total overall assessment and that’s just because of the economy,” explained Yargeau. “The value of everyone’s house went down, which means that municipalities are getting less tax revenue than the year before.
“It’s a real struggle for municipalities to deal with,” he added.
In addition, Yargeau said they’ve seen a significant increase to their school requisition over the past three years. They won’t know 2019 details until the spring.
“I would anticipate we’ll see (a requisition) close to what we had last year,” he said.
Yargeau said it was important to ensure their tax rate stays comparable to other municipalities in Central Alberta, and remains competitive.
“We want to make sure that the town is right in with all our neighbours. I think we did a really good job over the last number of years getting to that point and we kept up with that this year,” he said.
“It was a tough budget but I’m happy with how it all worked out in the end. We’re not looking at any drastic cuts to the services that we provide our residents,” Yargeau concluded.
The Town of Innisfail is bringing down its 2019 budget to the public this month.
