SUNDRE — Local taxpayers might heave a sigh of relief upon hearing the municipality may well have dodged a huge proverbial financial bullet.
Originally anticipating in the 2022 budget a major operational increase that had been forecast at more than 12 per cent, the town will in the end be facing next year a less than two per cent bump in expected expenses.
Council was recently informed about the development during a presentation from administration prior to reaffirming the fourth and final year of the municipality’s first-ever multi-year operational budget and capital plan that was developed in 2019 based on priorities and direction of the council of the day.
This spring, the new council will consider current priorities as the municipality begins to develop the next four-year budget cycle, which involves annual reviews to update and accommodate emergent matters, said Chris Albert, director of corporate services, adding the overall goal of this approach is to provide a level of consistency and predictability.
Largely as a result of required upgrades to the town’s sewage lagoon, which under the more traditional approach of expanding existing storage cells or installing new ones could have cost well into the tens of millions of dollars, the municipality was braced for the daunting possibility of facing a 12.53 per cent cost increase in 2022.
However, that situation since changed when plans to pursue an alternate approach to pilot a new state-of-the-art technology came to fruition.
“As council is aware, we have a new technology that we’re going to be piloting,” Albert said during the regular Dec. 6 meeting.
Courtesy of combined provincial government grant funding and a private sector partnership, the cost to upgrade the municipality’s wastewater treatment infrastructure was reduced substantially, he said.
“Looks like we won’t have to take on any debt,” he said. “So, that 12.53 per cent went down to 1.73 per cent, which is very nice.”
Another factor that will impact expenses was Mountain View County’s decision to not increase its funding contribution for the Sundre Fire Department to help cover the cost of the full-time fire chief position, he said.
“We were anticipating they would be in support of the additional costs. They have not been in support of that at this time,” he said.
Additionally, changes with insurance companies pertaining primarily to caps mean they are less likely to pay additional costs the fire department once was able to claim on motor vehicle collisions as well as structure fires, he said.
“All of those things combined affected fire department’s budget,” he said.
Administration has nevertheless for the most part managed to keep costs reasonably in line, he added.
With respect to the 10-year capital plan, Albert said the primary focus is the first five years, with the following five largely meant to identify and keep in mind future priorities.
Highlighting a few noteworthy items, he said a couple pieces of equipment for the fire department originally included in 2022 ended up being pushed back to 2023. That decision stemmed from the fact the smaller units were deemed still serviceable and did not immediately need to be replaced, as well as the high premium on new vehicles for the time being, he said.
“We decided to push those back a year until hopefully the prices are more stable,” he said.
However, he added a new pumper truck remains in the budget for 2022, as the apparatus must be requisitioned and requires a build-time of anywhere from 12 to 16 months.
“We can’t order it until the budget’s approved,” he said.
Another item was the John Deere loader whose lease expires in 2022. The unit has proved an asset in improving the level of service to the community, in part by facilitating the town crew’s efforts to clear the streets.
“We absolutely believe it is a good piece of equipment to have,” he said.
While the plan was originally to lease a new piece of equipment when the time came, Albert said administration arrived at the conclusion that buying out the current lease was more financially advantageous.
“We do have warranty remaining, it has low hours, and projected interest and leasing costs on new machine don’t seem to work in our favour,” he said, adding there will still eventually be the potential to sell the loader for a decent return while maximizing its value in the meantime.
Mayor Richard Warnock asked if another loader would have to be included in the capital plan some four years down the road.
Albert said the unit is expected to last for another roughly six years, possibly even 10 depending on its level of use.
“But,” he added, “it’s mechanical equipment. You never know after the warranty runs out.”
Coun. Chris Vardas moved to reaffirm the 2019-22 four-year operating budget and 10-year capital plan as amended, with total expenditures of a little more than $9 million as well as operational revenues of about $5.3 million in 2022, with the remaining roughly $3.7 million to be funded through taxation, the Fortis Franchise fee, Municipal Sustainability Initiative grant funding as well as restricted surplus accounts where identified.
Vardas went on to praise administration’s work on developing the multi-year budget and said every business should pursue such an approach. His motion carried.
Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, told council that in the spirit of transparency and accountability, the municipality endeavours to not only convey information to residents through a variety of communications channels, but also solicits feedback in part by hosting town halls for the public. The spring open house, she added, has already been scheduled for March 24.
