A three per cent increase to property taxes is included in the 2020 budget that will go to council for approval in January.
Council wrapped up their third and final night of budget deliberations Monday. Here is a summary of what councillors agreed to:
The property tax increase is set at three per cent, higher than the original two per cent that was proposed. The new amount includes almost one per cent dedicated to capital projects.
The utilities increase remains as proposed, two per cent.
The Underground Pipes and Asphalt Replacement (UPAR) and the Recreation Culture Capital Facilities (RCCF) levies stay unchanged.
“This is a reasonable increase in property taxation given inflationary costs right now,” said Mayor Ryan Bater. “It will set the stage for the city to be able to address its capital needs, not just this year, but well into the future.”
Bater noted several positives about the budget, including far less reliance on external debt to fund city operations.
“Our debt has come down by $4 million over the last year, about $7 million in the last year and a half,” said Bater. “Our debt level is at $36 million now, where it was for many, many years at $45 million, which is a big achievement.”
Council’s main task Monday was to go through a lengthy list of “unfunded” items still in need of decisions.
Council gave its stamp of approval to administration’s proposal to add a nearly one per cent property tax increase for capital projects. The idea is for the fund to grow in future years and be dedicated towards upcoming capital projects.
This is “really a signal for this council and future councils that this area needs to be addressed,” said Bater after the meeting.
The thinking is that this fund will be used right away for the city to cover the cost of the final phase of runway reconstruction at Cameron McIntosh Airport. The city’s portion would be $130,000, but the project is contingent on the city being successful in obtaining a matching provincial grant from the Community Airport Partnership.
The final decision was to set the increase going to capital at a slightly smaller rate of .95 per cent. The other .05 per cent, or roughly $6,000, will address the need for an archivist with the North Battleford City Historic Archives.
The city had considered reinstating the archivist position for $13,650 for a salaried 10-hours-a-week position. Instead, the plan is to fill one vacant gallery curator position, and include a role managing the city archives in those duties.
Going that route would bring the cost down to $6,000. The curator position is already in the budget but requires a slight increase of $6,000 to cover higher compensation due to increased responsibilities.
Taken together, the capital increase and the archives position funding brought the number needed for taxation to the round number of one per cent, which is being added to the two per cent already proposed.
While those decisions were the only ones that had an impact on taxation for 2020, other items also came up.
A main focus of the early portion of the meeting included discussion of the budget for Planning and Development. The discussion involved a list of unfunded capital projects for which administration was seeking approval.
Council voted to proceed with the Carlton Trail Roadway improvements at the intersection between Territorial Drive and Heritage Way.
This project, which is something administration has pushed for previously due to hotel development along the street, was identified as the highest priority by administration. Bater said council saw this as a “growth” investment for future development.
“This is to unlock development for the Yellow Sky area of North Battleford,” said Bater. “We cannot see any additional private developments or public developments, whether they be recreation facilities or educational facilities or what have you … they really can’t happen without an upgrade to this intersection.”
The price tag for the project is $1.45 million. Rather than take on external debt, it looks as if the city will be funding the project through internal borrowing for the first year, with property taxation needed in future. It is expected administration will come back and present some options in the new year on how they will proceed.
There will be underground work going ahead in 2020. Director of Planning and Development Jennifer Niesink said the UPAR work getting the go ahead for 2020 includes the final two blocks of 100th Street to 14th Avenue, the 1500 block of 95th Street, the 800 block of 110th Street and the 1900 block of 101st Street. Some cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) sewer lining will happen as well, but locations are undetermined at this point.
The total work is estimated to come to $4,075,000. There are some carryover UPAR funds left from last year that will be available to get more work done this year.
Third party grants were also discussed, revolving around the presentations made at the Dec. 2 meeting.
One key decision was made to cap the amount of discretionary third-party grants at $69,000. This impacts those third-party grant requests marked as “discretionary” that were not already included in the budget.
What it means is that any increase for any organization in this category would have to be balanced by a corresponding decrease going to other organizations. Final decisions will be made when the budget comes back for approval in January.
One final topic discussed was the $14,400 in annual rental by Twin Rivers Curling Club for use of the Northland Power Curling Centre.
Twin Rivers Curling Club came to council Dec. 2 seeking an exemption for that amount for second year in a row. The exemption had been granted the first year to allow the curling club time to complete a strategic planning process.
They came back with a similar request for an exemption this year, but council made clear they have reservations about hiking taxes to cover that request. The plan is for administration to look for another solution.
“Administration is going to meet with Twin Rivers Curling Club to see if there’s alternative ways to help them financially,” said Bater.
“We’ll see what administration can come up with. So it’s still to be decided.”
