Budget deliberations have wrapped up in North Battleford and further tweaks will now go ahead to the final document to be approved by council.
City residents can expect some increases in property taxes, water utility rates and sanitary sewer rates to the tune of 4.99 , 6.9 and 6.9 per cent respectively. The water rate increase is higher than originally proposed, largely due to councillors' concerns about the looming costs of pipe replacement.
As well, several new rates are being proposed including changes to waste management fees.
Barring any more unforeseen changes, the new rates and some other changes will be incorporated into the final budget that will be presented to council for final debate and adoption next month.
What still must be decided is how that increase will be applied and allocated to City taxpayers, with discussions still to come on tax policy after the budget is adopted.
Also still to be worked out in the months are some hard decisions the City faces on the future of the Agriplex and the Don Ross Centre.
Capital repairs for the two facilities were removed from taxation for the 2013 budget, meaning taxpayers are not on the hook for those repairs.
Essential work such as leaks in the roof will still be addressed, however. In the meantime the City will spend this year coming up with a long-term plan for both facilities.
Nine hours of deliberations took place Wednesday and Thursday last week. Councillors had their hands full with the 93-page preliminary budget document that was presented at Monday's council meeting by Finance Director Matthew Hartney.
The 2013 budget deliberations were certain to be challenging with three of the councillors as well as Hartney himself all newcomers to the budget process.
But the main challenge that Hartney identified at the start of deliberations was the infrastructure deficit, saying the City must come up with funding sources for capital projects over the next five years.
Hartney pointed out the 2013 budget is a "non-debt budget," which means the City will not take on additional debt, having reached its debt limit of $45 million as per legislation.
The first deliberation session Wednesday focused mainly on the utility budget - water, sewer and sanitation - as well as those related capital projects.
The proposed water rate increase ended up being the most-discussed topic of the two days of deliberations. Administration had proposed a 4.9 per cent increase in the base rate.
The concern that emerged surrounded water pipes that will need replacing in coming years. One project administration identified for 2013 is the water main rehab on two blocks along 101st Street, from 13th to 15th Avenue.
That is a $355,000 line item, with the money for that project slated to come out of the City's water reserve. But administration made clear that even more work lay ahead to replace more aging pipes in coming years.
The expensive prospect of replacing pipes and water infrastructure all over the city raised alarm bells for Councillor Greg Lightfoot, who made known his concern that the proposed water base rate increase of 4.9 per cent was too low to cover all the costs.
He expressed concern about the prospect of double-digit utility increases down the road to pay for repairs. Lightfoot wanted what he called a "proactive" approach.
Despite considerable support for his position, it initially appeared Wednesday as if council would stick with the 4.9 per cent water rate increase for this year to allow administration time to come up with a comprehensive plan to address the infrastructure needs over several years.
The following evening, though, a concerned-looking Lightfoot repeated his call for a 6.9 per cent increase, telling other councillors he had been spent the previous night wide awake thinking about the issue.
"We could save the taxpayers upwards of $80 million, over a number of years, by taking a little more aggressive approach," said Lightfoot. He also cited the even higher increases in water rates out of Regina, Saskatoon and other cities.
Lightfoot also expressed his concern that with the water increase set at 4.9 per cent, the City would have to take money out of its reserves to pay for this year's work on the two blocks.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news for the public, the media and all the councillors here," said Lightfoot. "My opinion would be that we go with a 6.9 per cent rate that's equal to the sewer rate."
Lightfoot noted the money raised could be put back into reserves to replace the funds being taken out to pay for this year's pipe replacement. There was also support expressed by councillors for the City to go ahead with even more pipe repair in 2013, with the additional rate being enough to cover an additional two blocks of pipe work this year.
Councillors came around in favor of setting the water increase at 6.9 per cent, bringing it level with the sewer rate increase. That change in the proposed rate will be reflected in the final budget document that comes back to council.
Another hot topic over the two nights of deliberations was the rate structure for waste management services.
Hartney stressed the importance for the waste management side to produce revenues to offset deficits in other City operations. One change contemplated for 2013 is a $6 recycling charge that will be added to the $9 bill for household garbage, bringing the total to $15 a month.
Administration had also proposed in its preliminary budget an entrance fee of $15 at the waste management facility, a fee that could be waived for local city residents using the landfill. However, that proposal is not going ahead.
Instead, councillors indicated their preference for an alternative endorsed by both City Manager Jim Toye and Dan Maloney of the Public Works Department: to set one fee rate structure across the board, but with a percentage discount for local residents. Councillors settled on a fee of $105 per tonne with a 25 per cent discount for local residents.
When Thursday's discussion moved towards the operations side, there were no major changes proposed to the 4.99 per cent property tax increase outlined in the preliminary budget.
Covered during that discussion were areas including government services, policing, fire, transportation and planning and development.
The most intensive discussion was in relation to parks and recreation, with the most significant change in the budget - and the most controversial item of the night - being the recommendation from administration to eliminate all capital costs of the Agriplex beyond 2013.
That would essentially remove the City from the Agriplex, a facility they co-own along with the Battlefords Ag Society, after the current year.
Weighing heavily on councillors was $510,000 in capital repairs in the next five years. The proposal was for those items to be removed from the 2013 budget and listed instead as "unfunded capital." Operations for the Agriplex continue to be funded in the budget for this year, however.
The main impact would be on hockey, with the potential closure of the rink and removal of the ice plant. The facility is still being contemplated as available for Ag Society events, however.
The recommendation prompted concern about reaction from the Ag Society, who uses the facility for events when the hockey season is over.
Councillors expressed the desire to consult and set up meetings with the Ag Society and other interested parties, including minor hockey, before final decisions are made on the future of the facility.
Another issue was the future of the Don Ross complex, consisting of the gymnasium and associated offices and meeting rooms as opposed to the adjoining Don Ross Arena and Chapel Gallery.
Councillor Trent Houk raised the issue of the costs of capital repairs at the Don Ross. He noted capital costs amounted to over $887,000 over the next five years for "this building that we don't need anymore."
"We have other facilities, state of the art facilities, and I think it's prudent that we look at getting rid of this as an asset," said Houk, "because it isn't an asset to the city. It's a liability."
Other councillors, including Lightfoot and Don Buglas, appeared to favour the notion of having another entity take over the Don Ross. Lightfoot also brought up the possibility of joint-ownership where the City could share costs with someone else.
Houk indicated he would support the budget if "we pull all the capital from taxation" for the Don Ross and show it as "unfunded," Lightfoot, however, made clear he wanted the City to continue to fund at least enough repairs to maintain the facility as an asset.
Following the conclusion of the meeting, Hartney spoke to reporters about what the deliberations meant for both the Agriplex and the Don Ross. He indicated that for now, nothing changes for either of their operations.
"At this time, day-to-day means nothing. Day-to-day means it's status quo as of right now. But it's important that council's recognized that within the next 12 months a plan should be put in place. What is the long term vision for the city on this - is the long term vision for the city to rebuild those things and make sure that they're constantly being used for the things they're being used for, or are there other options in the community that the City should look at?"
