Mountain View County's agricultural service board (ASB) has forwarded its proposed 2018 budget to council for budget deliberations.
The move came during the board's recent regularly scheduled meeting.
The 2018 budget calls for total revenues of $299,040 in 2018, down slightly from 2016's total of $302,040.
Revenue includes grants of $210,000, $5,000 for sales of chemicals and gopher poison, $32,790 from the ALUS program, $7,000 from Alberta Transportation, and $14,000 for urban weed inspections.
Recurring expenses for right-of-way management in 2018 include $200,000 for roadside spraying, $15,000 for the fence line sprayer program, $100,000 for brush control, $5,000 for grass control, $13,000 for grass seeding, $105,000 for grass mowing, and $25,000 for the toadflax program.
Recurring expenses for invasive plant management include $90,000 for weed inspection, $17,000 for range and pasture herbicide rebate, and $5,000 for bed and shore weed picking program.
Town weed inspection expenses will total $23,500.
Pest control expenses will include $3,000 for insect monitoring, $5,000 for pocket gopher rebate, $10,000 for fusarium and clubroot, $5,000 for coyote, skunk and rat, and $5,000 for gopher control.
Environment expenses include $87,000 for sustainable agriculture, $32,790 for alternative land use services, $35,000 for riparian fencing, $10,000 for riparian projects, $15,000 for county workshops, $16,000 for agricultural recycling, and $25,000 for agricultural community funding projects.
Total recurring expenses would be $1,256,365, up from $1,156,134 in 2016.
Board members passed a motion to send the proposed budget to council for consideration.
The ASB is made up of councillors and members of the public. It advises the county and the province on agriculture issues and concerns.
