Tax hike, new capital levy proposed for North Battleford

Concerns about aging infrastructure are about to force municipal tax bills higher in North Battleford.

Wednesday at City Hall, Director of Finance David Gillan unveiled the 2015 draft budget for North Battleford, which includes a proposed hike in property tax revenue of 4.5 per cent.

Administration is also proposing an increase in base water rates by five per cent, and of base sanitary sewer rates by three per cent.

But that's not all. The big news from night one of budget deliberations is City administration's proposal to address infrastructure worries with a new, city-wide capital initiative levy.

This levy would be separate revenue going solely to addressing infrastructure, and would be in addition to the tax and rate increases being proposed.

According to the draft budget document, a major concern of administration is the replacement of underground pipes in excess of 60 years old.

There are 17 kilometres of underground water and sewer lines facing that situation, said City Manager Jim Puffalt in his opening remarks Wednesday.

The City has been replacing those pipes at a rate of half a kilometre per year, but Puffalt painted a grim picture if the City continued at that rate.

In 10 years, the number of kilometres required to be replaced will grow to 40 kilometres, creating a situation where the city would never catch up, he said.

Puffalt also did not express much confidence that any Building Canada funding from the federal government will be enough to address all the issues.

"We have to look at an accelerated program," Puffalt said.

As a result, City administration is proposing an accelerated infrastructure renewal program that will replace the previous annual replacement program and also the local improvement program.

The idea, according to the message statement from Gillan in the draft document, is to fund a more rapid replacement of water and sewer infrastructure in the city.

The proposed capital levy for 2015 has two components. One is a $1,087,000 capital infrastructure levy generated from property taxes, for the sole purpose of funding the accelerated infrastructure program.

The second is a utility fund $1,182,000 capital levy generated from utility customers, also used to fund the accelerated program.

The numbers cited represent the first-year needs for the new levy, according to the budget.

The 2015 budget also includes plans to continue to fund other City initiatives in public safety and other areas. The City is proposing to fund in full the community safety co-ordinator position currently held by Herb Sutton, extending that position to Dec. 31, 2015.

The budget also addresses wage increases and inflation, as well as additional firefighters and the new community safety program now in place.

Council and administration officials met for nearly four hours during their first budget session in council chambers Wednesday, with the proposed capital levy dominating discussion.

Budget deliberations resume Monday and Wednesday, and another session is set for Dec. 10, if needed. Due to a major announcement that Mayor Ian Hamilton will be attending in Regina earlier in the day, Monday's deliberations are set for the later start time of 7 p.m.