OLDS — Town council will be voting on a change to the cemetery bylaw to charge people who live in Mountain View County the same rate that Olds residents pay.
Mountain View County requested the change.
During discussion, council members and staff said although the change will cost an as-yet undefined minimal amount, the move could bolster the relationship between the municipalities.
A request for decision from town staff pegs the potential loss to the town in the $2,000 to $10,000 range.
Chief administrative officer Brent Williams told council that as things currently stand, the town has two rates for burials and interments: a resident rate and a non-resident rate.
The county’s request was outlined in a letter to Town of Olds Mayor Judy Dahl from Mountain View County Reeve Angela Aalbers.
“Historically, Mountain View County residents have had access to the Olds Cemetery at the resident rate,” Aalbers wrote.
She said that ended when the Town of Olds changed the rules in 2019, “requiring county residents to pay significantly more for the same access to service at the non-resident rate.”
Albers said the preamble in a shared facility agreement states that “the Town of Olds operates recreation and culture facilities within the town and provides equal access to residents within the county.”
Albers said many county residents consider themselves to be part of the Olds community.
“Most, if not all of them, would already have loved ones in the cemetery,” she wrote.
“We encourage your council to look at the financial impact of the decision to charge the rural residents of Mountain View County more to access the cemetery in the most vulnerable times of their lives, and their families’ lives, and request that you include county residents within the definition of ‘resident’ as described in your bylaw under Schedule ‘C’ cemetery rates.”
Williams said the issue from the town’s point of view is that it costs about $130,000 a year to maintain the cemetery.
“The county does not provide any subsidies for those costs so that has been traditionally the logic for the town applying a non-resident rate to county residents,” Williams said.
On the other hand, he said the move might show good faith, given that agreements between the town and county are up for renewal next year.
“The financial impact of doing this is fairly minimal, as we don’t fully track the residents/non-residents rate historically,” Williams said, citing the $2,000 to $10,000 estimate.
“However, this is not currently known and will be tracked over the next several years to determine an exact baseline,” he added.
Williams noted the recommendation from administrative staff is to make the change to the bylaw.
Mayor Judy Dahl agreed the change would be more inclusive and could improve relations with the county.
As a result, council unanimously approved a motion calling on administrative staff to bring forward an amendment to the town’s cemetery bylaw to include Mountain View County residents in the definition of residents.
