Tisdale taxes will be going up 1.5 per cent this year to fund a budget that holds the line on most expenses, but spends $1.31 million on fixing the RECplex roof.
The town will generate $4.06 million in taxes, compared to $3.98 million last year. In addition to the taxes, the town will collect $17,500 from new developments exiting a tax-free status caused by development incentives.
“A small increase in the budget will pretty well have done what we need to do in town,” said Al Jellicoe, Tisdale’s mayor, after it passed at the March 12 meeting.
The mayor said the roof was the largest cost item this year.
“We’ve managed to do it with no external borrowing,” said Brad Hvidston, the town’s administrator. “We’ve borrowed a little bit from our own reserves but financing the rest on our own, which is a big thing for a community our size.”
Other major items in the budget are $475,000 for new water lines and a lift station for a subdivision in the west part of town along Highway #3.
“They’ve sold the residential lots that are serviced, so we have provide some more servicing for the next group of residential lots out there,” Hvidston said.
$225,000 will be spent on a water looping project in the south of town. $100,000 each will be spent on highway lighting and finishing a water well.
“There’s not a lot of big ticket items because of that roof,” Hvidston said.
Most spending on services are remaining close to last year’s. The North East Newcomer Services are seeing close to an $84,000 cut in what was a $190,000 budget due to a major cut in the provincial operating grant.
“There’s going to be some changes in that program there,” Hvidston said. “The government’s cut some funding there, so we’re still sorting that out.”
The town, like the rest of the province, is still looking to see what effect, if any, the April 10 provincial budget will have on them.
“There’s still a few little unknowns,” Jellicoe said, “but nothing major.”
