CANORA - Not a particularly flashy budget this year for the Town of Canora, according to Michael Mykytyshyn, chief administrative officer.
The total budget is $9 million in matching revenue and expenses. Capital expenditures are forecast to be about $3.6 million.
Transfer station
“Construction of a new transfer station was completed this past winter and it’s ready to go,” said Mykytyshyn. “As part of the 2024 fiscal year, council budgeted to borrow $2 million for the project, but after unbudgeted and unexpected landfill revenue of about $900,000, it was only necessary to borrow $1.2 million for the project.”
This year, the existing landfill is set to be decommissioned at an estimated cost of $2.4 million. This work will involve covering, sloping and capping the entire landfill area to limit any precipitation or moisture from penetrating the cover. Fortunately, $1.8 million of that will be funded by a grant from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP).
In the meantime, it’s looking like the transfer station, although it’s operational, will open later in the year because the more waste material that can be deposited in the landfill, the less fill will have to purchased and/or trucked in to cover it.
Paving projects
Another street paving project is set for 2025. After a few years of postponing street renewal, Eighth Avenue West was paved last year and Evelee Avenue, Seventh Avenue West and a portion of Mary Street will be repaved this year. This year’s work will cost about $700,000 and that includes some curb replacements on Mary and Evelee.
Other upgrades
To round out capital spending for the year, Public Works will upgrade some of the older equipment including a wheel loader, skid steer and snow blade for the loader. Work on updating the water supply system never ends and this year some of the filter media will be replaced at the water treatment plant. The communications system at the well field will be upgraded.
“People often question why paying their taxes doesn’t result in new or enhanced municipal services and/or infrastructure, particularly in front of or adjacent to their property,” said Mykytyshyn. “The explanation is that a portion of their property taxes goes to the province for education and the municipal portion only makes up 25 per cent of the overall revenue for the town. Total tax revenue in the 2025 budget is about $2.3 million of $9 million.
“When you think about it, the most recent paving project cost $450,000 on a street with 14 taxable properties. That works out to about $32,000 per property. At the average municipal tax levy of about $2,100, it would take more than 15 years to recoup the cost of the project just from those properties. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but helps explain why council has to prioritize and stage projects over time.”
Inflation hits town
Residents may have noticed or heard about the cost of living increases in recent times and the same applies to running a municipality. Operating costs for the Town are forecast to increase about $350,000 this year. This does not include providing new services, it is simply how much more it will cost to maintain the status quo.
Tax rates adjusted after assessments
This year was an assessment revaluation year in Saskatchewan and the taxable assessment of the Town dropped from $103.2 million to $94.9 million. Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) is also conducting a re-inspection of the properties in Canora this year and that means most assessments here may change again next year.
Council has been conscious about maintaining a reasonable tax rate and when tax dollars only make up one quarter of the town’s revenue, it means projects have to wait or other sources of revenue have to be accessed, the chief administrative officer said.
As explained, it is a common misconception that your property taxes go straight towards street paving or other large-scale projects, emphasized Mykytyshyn.
“To balance the budget this year, council agreed to a $40 raise in the base tax rate and a 1.56 mill increase in the mill rate. The increased mill rate was offset by the drop in assessment, so the effective rate increase was about 0.75 mills. The base tax and mill rate will bring in about $114,000 more tax revenue than last year, an increase of about five per cent overall. Mill rate factors remain at .67 for agricultural, .87 for residential and 2.3 for commercial properties.”
A copy of the approved 2025 budget is available for viewing at canora.com.
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