Residential and commercial property taxes will increase 3.89 per cent in 2015 and 1.97 per cent in 2016, council decided last week.
Councillors approved the 2015 and 2016 operating budgets during the council meeting on Dec. 1, after hosting an open house on Nov. 26.
The average residential tax bill will increase by $71.50 in 2015 and $37.75 in 2016 while the average commercial property tax will see an increase of $105.75 in 2015 and $55.50 in 2016.
This is the first year town officials are conducting a two-year budget cycle. Wanda Watson-Neufeld, the town's director of corporate services, said with the two-year cycle people will be able to depend on future tax rates, and organizations requesting funding will be able to plan ahead.
There will be a spring budget adjustment once assessment figures are available in April, but town officials have set the tax increase assuming that assessments will increase by 2.2 per cent in 2015 and 2.01 per cent in 2016.
Budget deliberations were held last month and councillors made decisions on whether to maintain, increase or decrease service levels for the year of 2015 as well as 2016.
The operating budget that has been approved for 2015 is $9,967,171 and taxpayers will be on the hook for $2,981,118 of that.
This includes spending $150,000 for a broadband business plan that would kick off a project to install fibre optic cable to every household and business in Sundre. Officials plan to partner with O-NET to build and maintain the project.
O-NET is a company owned by the Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development that provides television, high-speed Internet and phone services for the community of Olds.
Also included in the budget is spending $34,625 in additional salary and benefits in 2015 to increase the corporate services administrative assistant part-time position to full-time.
As well, council agreed to spend $59,800 to review and update the town's Land Use Bylaw, and $32,880 for advertising and promotion.
Town officials will provide the Sundre & District Historical Society with $10,000 and the Sundre Community Van Association with $7,000 in 2015 as well as 2016.
The aquatic society will receive $180,000 between the town and Mountain View County in 2015 and 2016. Sundre Family and Community Support Services will receive $29,254 each year. The Sundre Municipal Library will be provided with $102,942 in 2015 and $105,001 in 2016.
The operating budget approved for 2016 is $10,008,409 and taxpayers will be on the hook for $3,098,156 of that.
This includes spending $20,000 towards the broadband network project, $50,000 for corridor enhancing downtown revitalizing projects, and $39,310 for advertising and promotion.
Council also approved a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) increase of 2.6 per cent in 2015 as well as 2016.
The next budget cycle will be in 2016, which will be for 2017 and 2018, so the new council elected in 2017 won't be rushed into budget, according to Watson-Neufeld.
“They don't know a lot about the town unless they've been on council. So then they have a huge learning curve and half the time they don't know what they're passing,” she said.
“So this way it will be the former council that passed the budget so the new ones have a chance to get into it.”
During the budget open house held at the town office on Nov. 26, posters were on display to break down the budget for residents.
Town administration accounts for 23.8 per cent of the budget, community services for 29.5 per cent, operational services is at 16.13 per cent, economic development at 19.79 per cent and protective services at 10.78 per cent.
“Formerly they'd (economic development) only been about three per cent of the budget, so that's a huge change,” she said.
“Council has really invested in this group to try to bring in new tax base.”
The purpose of the open house was to communicate with residents and gain feedback for councillors before they debated the budget during last week's council meeting.
Watson-Neufeld compared Sundre's taxes to surrounding communities including Three Hills, Rimbey, Redwater, Hanna, Didsbury, Carstairs and Athabasca. Of those communities, Sundre's residential taxes are below average by $232 and non-residential taxes are below average by $65.
She added that the current average residential and commercial assessment in Sundre is $250,000.
“It would be great if our businesses had higher assessment because they would pay more taxes and we could lower residential. That's our goal.”
Council also approved a lower than usual 2015 capital budget of $2,195,000 and $1,162,000 for 2016. The capital budget is usually between $4 million and $7 million, she said.
“We're using this as a planning year to determine what needs to be done and what residents really want.”
The capital budget does not impact taxes, but will be paid for completely through grants or reserves, she noted.
The operating budget that was approved for 2014 was $9,133,789 and taxpayers were on the hook for $2,803,057 of that. This included a residential tax increase of 3.17 per cent and a commercial tax increase of 2.68 per cent compared to 2013. The 2014 capital budget was approved at $3,958,980.
