By Greg Nikkel
Weyburn city council passed the 2018 budget for the City of Weyburn, with an increase on assessment of 2.54 per cent, down from an initial increase of 4.79 per cent, at their council meeting on Monday evening.
At the previous meeting on Jan. 8, council was presented with the budget, and a list of some area where savings could be made with cuts to trim the spending down if council wished.
Following discussions over the past couple of weeks, council decided to cut an interest transfer to reserves by $50,000, to cut a request to buy new software for urban forestry worth $15,000, and to cut a request for a new floor for Public Works worth $70,000.
This removed a total of $135,000 from the budget, leaving an increase from last year of $152,319 or 2.54 per cent. Earlier Monday, the budget increase was going to be 2.87 per cent, but this was trimmed down at council meeting.
City manager Roy Hardy said the removal of the request for a new floor for Public Works was possible as a new public works building is slated to be built in the next couple of years, so it would not be a hardship to let this request go.
Mayor Marcel Roy said to keep the increase this low was commendable when other municipalities will have much higher tax increases, such as Swift Current with a 13.5 per cent tax hike.
He added this was good particularly “considering the budget cuts we had from the government.”
A request from the Fire Department for new flooring in the Fire Hall in a high-traffic area was kept, which is an item worth $35,000, as was a request for consulting on repairs to the downtown street lights ($50,000), replacement of a storm sewer on Seventh Street West ($40,000), an aerator assessment ($20,000), a new police sign ($2,000), renovations to the library office ($8,000) and repairs to a floor in the Leisure Centre ($55,000).
For the 2018 budget, the City will have revenues totalling $35,493,297, with taxes providing $10.2 million, grants, fees and charges, and internal transfers from other departments.
Expenses total $28,656,751, and capital expenditures total just over $3 million.
Capital purchases budgeted for this year include a police vehicle, equipment and an IT project, worth $114,000; a new ladder truck for the Fire Department worth $930,000 plus extrication equipment worth $16,500; works and parks projects totalling $460,000; facilities projects totalling $790,000, including $750,000 for building design for the new recreation-culture centre to be a part of the new elementary school; and a capital transfer for fleet vehicle purchases for the Works department worth a total of $695,000. Renovations or repairs to various city buildings will total $472,000, including $75,000 to City Hall.
The purchase of the fire truck, the last major purchase for the Fire Department for the next several years, was approved after further discussion by council with Fire Chief Simon Almond. The purchase had been approved in 2017 to be a part of this year’s budget, and councillors wanted to make sure that this purchase could be justified.
Chief Almond assured that this truck will not need to be replaced until the year 2033. The truck is replacing a unit that is about 17 years old, which is beyond the accepted normal lifespan for fire equipment of 15 years.
The new truck will have a total estimated cost of $900,000 in Canadian dollars. The cab, chassis and body is worth $580,091 US, the changes to the demo unit for Weyburn’s needs is another $15,168 US, and equipment totalling $96,324 US, for a total of $691,583 US.
Chief Almond said if they use an exchange rate of $1.24, this equates to a total of $857,563 in Canadian dollars. Asked what will happen to the truck being replaced, he said his initial thought was to keep it for training, while Mayor Roy suggested it might be stationed on the South Hill to help provide emergency service there in the event of a fire where the main department trucks are delayed by a freight train. He said trains cut off the South Hill from Fire Department access for about four to six hours a day.
On the option to sell the truck, Chief Almond said the City wouldn’t get that much for it as the market for a 17-year-old fire truck is “somewhat limited”. The new truck will take about four weeks to be delivered.