Battleford's budget has been approved and the mill rate set, holding it to last year's levy of 3.85 mills.
Town council approved the budget and the mill rate by bylaw Monday.
Council also approved a base tax of $890 for residential and agricultural classes and a base tax of $1,780 for commercial and industrial classes. These, too, are the same as last year.
In addition, since 2010, the Town has had a minimum tax rate of $300.
The summary of the general operating budget for 2013 indicates the Town expects to take in revenue of just over $7 million, of which $2.6 million will be made up by taxation. That $2.6 million, however, is expected to be reduced by abatements, adjustments and early payment discounts to just over $2.3 million.
Most of the tax revenue will come from the residential classes.
Each property owner's taxes will be based on their assessment as re-established last year by the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency. The next reassessment will be in 2017.
In addition to their municipal taxes, property owners will also be required to pay an education tax as set by the provincial government. This year's uniform education mill rates for the Living Sky School Division are the same as last year, 2.67 for agriculture class, 5.03 for residential class, 8.28 for commercial class and 11.04 for resources. The Town collects the education taxes with the municipal property taxes and sends them on to the province.
At Monday's meeting, town council members also heard from their auditors, with Amber Volk, CA, attending on behalf of Dallan D.Oberg, CA. of the auditing firm Holm Clements Kwong Raiche Oberg, Chartered Accountants.
Highlighting the 2013 fiscal year, Volk said the Town had revenues of $6,895,000 as compared to budgeted revenues of $6,918,000, with the variance accounted for by $221,011 in gains from land sales that were not budgeted for and a shortfall of $300,000 in budgeted capital grant revenue.
Volk said the Town spent $1,698,176 on capital projects in 2013, which included improvements to paving, curbs and gutters throughout the town, the completion of Highway 4 twinning project and purchases of machinery and equipment.
Operating expenditures for 2013 were $5,197,000, which is comparable to the budgeted operating expenditures of $5,178,000.
Volk also said the Town's unappropriated surplus was increased by $69,161, from $1,337,600 to an ending balance of $1,406,761.
The Town increased its appropriated reserves for future expenditures by $896,243 from $7,600,168 to a total of $8,496,411.
The 2014 capital budget calls for just over $2.3 million from reserve accounts to be put toward the proposed total of $3.565,022.
