OLDS — Olds council has passed its tentative 2025 operating and capital budget.
The $35,887,27 operating budget is up by $1,183,303 or 3.4 per cent over the 2024 budget, which stood at $34,703,969.
The balanced budget currently calls for an approximately 6.6 per cent tax revenue increase.
The town's chief administrative officer, Brent Williams, as well as corporate services and finance director Sheena Linderman said they hope to provide some options to shave that figure down to five per cent when the final budget is presented in April.
A five per cent hike would result in an increase of about $9 a month for the average residential home (a single-family home valued at about $402,546), according to the town.
By April, the municipal officials will know for sure what to expect from the provincial government and what the assessed value of properties in town is. Assessments are a factor when taxes are determined.
Utility rates are rising in 2025 too.
For the average household, water rates are slated to increase by $5.40 a month and wastewater (sewer) rates rise by 60 cents a month.
On the other hand, solid waste fees are actually going down, by $4 a month for the average household.
The total increase for the average residential customer will be $2 a month, according to municipal officials.
The operating budget includes 11 items totalling $737,891 approved by council during recent meetings.
Those items include a two per cent cost of living increase for municipal staff ($139,771), a third municipal enforcement (ME) officer ($117,000), vehicle and body cameras ($13,500), $30,000 for sidewalk repair and maintenance and $40,000 for trail and pathway repair and maintenance.
Linderman said the plan is for those projects to be covered via the proposed nearly seven per cent tax revenue hike.
She said 1.3 per cent or $445,000 of this year’s budget increase is the result of inflation. The other 2.1 per cent is the result of the projects councillors approved.
Council also approved the 2025 capital budget, which totals $5,524,000
As reported earlier, a big focus this year is on fixing infrastructure, especially cutting the amount of water lost through inflow and infiltration. The anticipated price tag for that work in 2025 is $1.8 million.
Williams told council that work, carried out for the past few years, is having positive results.
Other projects in 2025 include $580,000 in upgrades for the Olds Sportsplex and $305,000 for equipment purchases for the parks department.
But not everything staff recommended for the capital budget was approved.
Four proposed capital projects worth a total of $161,000 were cut: trails ($100,000), a proposed $30,000 outdoor rink water service shack ($30,000), HVAC controller upgrades for the Olds Municipal Library ($20,000) and lifecycle replacement of a thermal imaging camera ($11,000).
During budget discussions, there had been lots of talk about the possibility of hiring a human resources administrative assistant, as was recommended during a review.
In the end, that position was not approved.
Coun. Wanda Blatz noted that position was recommended when an organizational review was undertaken. She expressed hope money for it might be found when budget figures are more solid this spring.
“I think it is that position that could be very important to the overall structure of our organization,” Blatz said.
Coun. Heather Ryan also expressed support for that position, saying doing so would take the Town of Olds back to its 2023 staffing level.
Ryan repeated the fact that she did not support the third ME position. When that position came up for discussion during budget debate in late November, Ryan said instead of a third ME officer, the Town should prioritize what the existing two are doing.
Coun. Darren Wilson said he didn’t support the HR position but did support the third ME position.
“I didn't and don't support the HR admin position, basically because as I said before in these meetings, there's no direct line of sight from that position through to how do we make and improve and (create) better quality of life for the residents,” Wilson said.
“I'm not diminishing, I guess, the importance or potential importance of that role. I just don't see a direct line of sight as I do with the municipal enforcement officer and being proactive in that area.”
Wilson praised the budget as not being a “fluff budget.”
“As we’ve said all along, we've struggled with very difficult choices around core essential requirements,” he said.
During budget discussions, $10,000 was cut from the Olds Municipal Library budget.
Wilson tried to get to get that money reinstated, saying the library serves as an important outlet, especially for low-income residents.
However, his motion to that end was defeated. So was his motion to have Williams find out from library staff what effect the loss of that money will have on the facility.
Ryan said she called for the $10,000 to be cut from the library budget because of the fact that the closure of the SNDL (formerly Sundial) marijuana production plant in Olds announced in the fall of 2023 resulted in a loss of at least $300,000 in franchise fees.
“That's a significant amount of money,” she said.
Ryan noted that $5,000 was cut from the Mountain View Museum & Archives’ $50,000 budget and $10,000 was cut from the library’s budget, which she said is more than $500,000.
Ryan suggested that $10,000 could go toward trail construction or maintenance or sidewalk maintenance.
Coun. James Cummings wondered how the federal government’s carbon tax increase this spring will impact the municipality's budget.
Linderman said the spring carbon tax increase will be in the range of $21,000. She said the Town of Olds' total carbon tax bill for natural gas and fuel is about $150,000.
“I support the budget as it stands today; a lot of good work and debate all week. It's not perfect. No one at the table I think could say it's a perfect budget,” Cummings said.
“I think this budget provides a great balance between what we can afford, what our citizens can afford, what our citizens have been asking for over the years.”
He said the carbon tax is money the Town of Olds otherwise could have spent on programming for the community.
“I applaud both administration through their great effort, putting together projects that we can support and keep in mind the fluff down as much as possible, considering the huge financial constraints this year brought to us,” Cummings said.
