A uniform mill rate for Weyburn of 18.
A uniform mill rate for Weyburn of 18.648 mills for 2011 was approved by City Council during their monthly meeting on April 26, which includes taxation for the Southeast Cornerstone School Division and the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division.
"It was a very good year for the City of Weyburn, because the only change to taxes was from the school divisions, and they went down," said Jon Michaud, director of finance. "For residents who pre-paid their taxes, they will receive a small credit from the city in the mail."
Earlier in the year, City Council passed their 2011 budget, and announced there was a zero increase in their taxes. The total taxable assessment for the City for 2011 was $382,705,230. For single family residential, the base tax will be at $505.
Mill rate factors were set for certain classes and sub-classes of land, with agriculture at 0.64; commercial at 1.47; hotels, nursing homes and vacant land with no improvements at 0.71; malls and multi-units under 12 at 1.18; motels at 0.50; nor-arable land and municipal residential at 0.412; multi-units of 12 and over at 1.02; trailer courts at 2.08; and condominiums at 0.64.
City Council will apply to the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program, to determine if the city is eligible to be designated as a disaster area because of flooding.
Provincial officials will need to assess whether the situation in the city qualifies as a disaster area. In the meantime, city manager Bob Smith recommended that residents experiencing basement seepage or other water problems keep pictures and videos of the problem and retain all invoices for related repairs in case they qualify for future disaster funding.
Councillor Bill Rudachyk raised concerns about flooding damage to River Park and the Weyburn Golf Course. Smith noted that if Weyburn qualified as a disaster area that Council would be able to apply for funding for damages to River Park, but noted that the Weyburn Golf Course is located in the RM and it would be up to their council to apply to the program.
According to Rene Richard, director of engineering, the dikes in the city will remain in place for another two weeks, as record flows are still coming down from the McTaggart area.
The facilities department is currently designing the layout for the new facility for the Turner Curling Museum.
The facilities committee will be providing direction regarding signage, flooring and ceiling materials for the new Turner Curling Museum facility, which is located across from the Curling Rink, and attached to the Tom Zandee Sports Arena.
Discussions will include representation from the Weyburn Curling Club, and Shirley Miller from the Turner family.
The facilities department is also looking at the next steps for long-term facility planning. Committee members were advised to come up with a list of potential projects, and that information will be divided into maintenance projects and new construction for consideration.
For the third year in a row, City Council nominated Mayor Debra Button to run as director for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Approval for a new youth soccer field was approved by City Council to be set up at Elks Park for the Weyburn Soccer Association. The space will be used for the under 10 and under 12 age groups during May and June, while the Weyburn Soccer Association works on their new field project at Jubilee Park.
