Mountain View County council has OK'd a 2.5 per cent cost of living increase for staff and councillors for 2015.
The approval came during the regularly scheduled council meeting on Nov. 26.
The increase will translate into an increased cost of $237,500 for the county, says Greg Wiens, director of corporate services.
Reeve Bruce Beattie says the increase is needed to keep the county competitive in the job market.
“It continues to be a very, very tight job market,” Beattie told the Gazette. “We have to be competitive. We did compare with other counties and most are within that 2.5 per cent range, so we are comfortable with that.
“We are looking at a 2.6 per cent inflation rate (in Alberta). People won't be employed somewhere and see their buying power reduced because we are not increasing salaries. We wouldn't have much of an organization if we don't have people working for us.”
Meanwhile, during the Nov. 26 council meeting councillors and staff reviewed the proposed 2015 capital budget.
“We've had further discussions on a number of issues and we anticipate passing the capital side of the budget on December 10,” he said.
Proposed capital expenditures include $2,700,000 for gravel roads, $4,165,000 for hard surface roads, $2,100,000 for local roads, $2,524,700 for bridges, $305,000 for facilities, $154,700 for office equipment and software, and $19,300 for agricultural/parks projects/land management.
During the meeting, councillors decided to take a proposed $11 million resurfacing upgrade of Rge. Rd. 20 out of the budget. The road runs between Didsbury and Olds west of Highway 2A.
“We want to find out what the impact would be on Highway 2A traffic and whether it would be wise to take traffic off a provincial road and onto a county road,” he said. “We will not be proceeding with the project in 2015.”
An engineering report on the road will be presented to council on Dec. 10.
Regarding bridge upgrades and maintenance next year, Beattie said, “We are going to fully fund the bridge program recognizing that that will take pretty much all of our reserves out of the bridge fund.
“We are certainly looking to the province to see if they are going to put some funding back into the bridge program that has been zero funded for the last two years.”
Asked what impact the new budget may have on taxes in 2015, Beattie said, “We've held taxes at that zero, zero, one per cent level for the last number of years and we are looking at other municipalities where they are seeing significant increases. We are going to have to look seriously at our fiscal situation and make sure that we are not setting up future councils for big increases because we've held off and held off.
“We are in discussions with towns about recreational facilities and investments in infrastructure, so how long can we continue to keep taxes effectively at the same level and absorb those costs? It's a question of looking where our reserves are and asking what level do we need to maintain (the reserves) in case of other expenses that might come about.”
The overall tax rates won't be set until the operating budget is passed in the spring and the county receives school and other requisition requests.
Proposed CAO services projects in the 2015 capital budget include the following:
• $1.5 million for access to water from the new north-south water line.
“This project will provide Mountain View County access to water through an urban municipality from the MVRWSC,” said CAO Tony Martens. “Water is a strategic long-range resource necessary for the growth of the county. Total cost of the project is approximately $3 million based on the added capacity of the new water line required to provide the county with its allocated supply of water.”
• $357,205.53 for Sundre east-side servicing. “The utilities provided were oversized to allow connections to county developments,” he said. “This project is in keeping with the MOA that if the county wishes to connect to these services it must pay the cost of the oversizing.”
Proposed corporate services projects include $16,000 for copier replacement, $7,000 for shop copier replacement, $5,000 for new county maps, and $5,000 for GPS unit replacement.
Proposed legislative services projects include $26,200 for a review of county owned agricultural parcels, $19,300 for fencing of county-owned land, $111,600 for highway signage, $21,500 for local and collector road signage, $80,000 for solar power pilot program, $10,000 for records management. $25,000 for cemetery operating and enhancement funding, and $30,000 to support the meat training centre at Olds College.
Proposed planning and development services projects include $80,000 for Wessex growth node area structure plan, and $11,400 for the Highway 2-27 area structure plan review.
Proposed operational services projects include $255,000 for fallen weight testing throughout the county to determine the strength of all chip sealed roads, which will help determine which roads require work in the future. The project will spread over three years.
Councillors could vote on the proposed budget on Dec. 10.
"It continues to be a very, very tight job market."Bruce Beattie,MVC reeve
