Melfort will increase the amount of tax dollars it collects by 3.14 per cent to pay for this year’s budget.
The budget was passed at a council meeting Feb. 12.
“It is probably one of the lowest tax increases we’ve had for some time,” said Rick Lang, Melfort’s mayor. “Based on what I’m hearing from other cities, it’s certainly comparable, if not on the lower end of proposed tax increases.”
| Base Tax | % of total assessment | |
| Residential | $674 | 0.630% |
| Condo | $480 | 0.728% |
| Agriculture | $674 | 0.433% |
| Multi-Family | $674 | 1.015% |
| Commercial/Industrial | $674 | 1.923% |
All property owners – except for condo owners – will pay $674 in base tax, an increase of $12. On top of that, residential property owners will pay around 0.630 per cent of the value of their total property assessment, an increase of 0.023 per cent; business owners 1.923 per cent, an increase of 0.070 per cent; multi-family units will pay 1.015 per cent, an increase of 0.037 per cent; and agriculture will pay 0.433 per cent, an increase of 0.016 per cent.
Condo owners will pay $480 in base tax – an increase of $8 – plus 0.728 per cent of their total assessment – an increase of 0.026 per cent.
“3.14 per cent is certainly something that I think council can be proud of and I think we’ve addressed it without hampering any of the service delivery that we have right now or any of the plans we have for moving forward,” Lang said. “It’s actually a good budget considering that we had to rationalize $150,000 worth of revenue cuts as part of this budget as well.”
To save money, the city reviewed advertising, merchant fees and charges, and facility fees. It also plans to save energy costs by installing LED lights.
The city has also decided to join a group purchasing program headed by Prince Albert that will save $4,000. That shouldn’t affect any purchasing from local businesses. Coun. Glenn George said he thought it was a bad idea and voted against it.
As well, the city will no longer give the Melfort Chamber of Commerce a $30,000 grant to run its tourism program, moving that function in-house. That’s expected to save $9,500 this year, with more savings to come.
Lang said they’ve discussed that move since the 2017 budget discussions and asked city staff to study the issue.
“The recommendation that they brought forward was that we could save tourism dollars and still do the jobs equal to or better than the service we were getting,” he said. “It’s all about the responsible use of money.”
The mayor said he hopes there’s no surprises from the provincial government when it passes its budget in April. If that’s the case, then the city will have to revise the budget.
Lang said if that happens, he wants the province to take the blame this year instead of having the city silently make cuts to its services to produce a balanced budget – something that’s a requirement.
“If there is a hardship caused on the city directly because of another level of government, they need to step up and take credit for that.”
