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County drops residential municipal mill rate, plans for large surplus

The County of St. Paul approved its 2016 budget at a special meeting held on Thursday morning, which will see a larger than typical surplus, along with a reduction in the residential municipal mill rate.

The County of St. Paul approved its 2016 budget at a special meeting held on Thursday morning, which will see a larger than typical surplus, along with a reduction in the residential municipal mill rate.

The county will hold the line on all other municipal mill rates, including farmland and non-residential, while decreasing the residential municipal mill rate by 7.9 per cent.

“We’re trying to cushion the blow for people,” says CAO Sheila Kitz, as she explains why the county decided to drop the mill rate. She says that overall, there was an increase in assessments.

On the residential side, there was a 4.2 per cent increase due to new housing, and a 4.7 per cent increase in the market value.

Linear and industrial assessments also went up because of Inter Pipeline coming online, and work at the Pengrowth site, along with other projects happening within the county.

Kitz says that the county is in a unique situation, because of the timing of some of the projects. While some of her colleagues in other municipalities are reporting decreases in linear assessments due to the economic downturn, the county has not seen the same occur, yet.

Overall, the 2016 budget calls for a $900,248 surplus, which is more than what is normally budgeted. In 2015, a $109,090 surplus was budgeted.

According to Reeve Steve Upham, the county worked hard to trim its budget and hold onto its surplus to help cover spending. The real estate market has been surprisingly buoyant, and assessments did go up in 2015, said Upham, but he predicted that with the drop in resource revenues, this trend will likely not continue.

“We know that’s not going to go on, and there’s going to be a rough landing, in the next year or two,” he says, adding this is where the County of St. Paul realized the need to be proactive.

“I think this budget addresses that.”

The cutoff date for assessment values was July 1, 2015, but there have been reductions in market value since that time, across the province, which could have an effect on next year’s budget.

“I think we’re in a fortunate position,” says Kitz. But, council and administration is being realistic, and the reason behind that large surplus is because they are looking ahead, says the CAO.

The 2016 surplus will be transferred to reserves to help offset what is expected to be reductions in assessment in the 2016 year, for taxation in 2017.

“We might see reality next year,” says Kitz.

Total expenditures in the 2016 budget sit at just over $44.2 million, while the total revenue is set at $45.1 million. In 2015, revenue was set at $40.3 million, and expenditures were budgeted to be $40.2 million.

Total revenue from taxes will increase from $24.5 million in 2015, to more than $26.8 million in 2016.

Council has also determined that there would be no cost of living increases for staff salaries, or council, in 2016.

One of the county’s largest projects in 2016 will be the waterline from Spedden to Ashmont, which will supply the Ashmont and Lottie Lake communities with EPCOR water when complete.

The county approved a motion to proceed with the second lowest bidder on Thursday, during its public works meeting. In the end, the project came in at about $1 million lower than originally estimated.

The county has awarded the contract to Directional Drilling & Mining Ltd. For $3.1 million. When all other costs are calculated in, the total cost of the project is now being budgeted at just under $5.4 million. A previous budget had pegged the project at $6.5 million.

Kitz says that although no one is happy with the economic downturn, she is happy that the county is able to move forward with the project during this time.

“It’s a good time to build.”

The Water for Life program, which includes about 90 per cent grant funding for the project, is being used for the waterline project. A debenture will be used to fund the remaining portion.

Typically, council will approve the lowest bidder for projects, but in this case, Urban Systems, the county’s engineering firm, recommended the second lowest, due to some red flags that came up after the bids came in.

The lower bidder forgot to add in the cost of the actual pipeline material, and had some other incomplete information on its application. After seeking a legal opinion on the matter, administration, along with Urban Systems, recommended council approve Directional Drilling & Mining Ltd.

Tenders received from the project ranged from $2.7 million to over $6.5 million. Eleven tenders were received.

Coun. Frank Sloan voiced concern about the process, saying the county should have done a prequalification process before accepting the bids on the project.

“I just feel that maybe all of us dropped the ball a little bit.”

The county did do a prequalification for the Ashmont Lagoon project.

Council also asked Urban System’s Matt Brassard, who was in attendance at Thursday’s public works meeting, about having a full-time inspector on site to oversee the project as it is being done.

Brassard confirmed that someone from Urban Systems would be working full-time on the project. Some concerns stem from issues that have been noted on the Elk Point waterline.

Kitz noted that the type of pipeline that will be used for the waterline from Spedden to Ashmont would be a different material than what was used for the Elk Point line.

Although an increase in water fees for residents isn’t noted in the budget, residents should expect increases in rates at the completion of the new waterline.

“The county fully intends to move to a full cost recovery model as per our water policy,” says the budget summary.

The Ashmont Lagoon is another large project the county will be undertaking in 2016. That project is being tendered out this month.

Much of the project will be covered by a Building Canada Grant. The budget includes capital expenses to complete the lagoon expansion and a waste water transfer station.

The project is expected to cost about $5.1 million, with a $1.5 debenture being taken out by the county to fund the remaining portion.

The administration section of the county’s 2016 budget will see an increase over last year’s spending, from $3.4 million to over $3.6 million. Council has approved the hiring of a finance technician, and by May all assessment services will be contract services, as the last in-house assessor will retire.

Contracted services in administration have also increase because of a change in IT services.

St. Paul Fire is expected to take delivery of a new Rapid Response Truck in May, and an increase in the percentage of shared costs for the Elk Point Fire Department is also worked into the 2016 budget. The increase in shared costs would be based on the fact that a number of the calls Elk Point responds to are in the county, not in the town.

The “transportation” budget for expenditures in 2016 is set at $15.9 million, compared to $14.4 the year prior.

There is 15 miles of road building budgeted this year, along with $2.8 million of oiling/paving budgeted. Cold mix will be used again this year, as well as traditional methods of mixing oil on the road.

The use of MG30 will continue as a method of doing dust controls, although council did discuss the introduction of a new product at its last regular council meeting, which is more of a wax-type product, heard council.

Upgrading the power at Westcove, along with an increase of $5,000 to both the Town of St. Paul and the Town of Elk Point for its recreation contribution is included in the 2016 budget.

Two floating piers for county-run parks, and three floating piers for other lake subdivisions are also included in the budget, along with a playground at Floating Stone Park and an expansion of the Lac Bellevue park.

A small increase to the County Library Board budget has also been approved.

The FCSS department will see an increase in funding in the budget, due to the merger that took place on Aug. 1, 2015, that has combined the Elk Point FCSS branch with the County of St. Paul branch. FCSS is an 80/20 funding partnership between the province and the municipality.

The 2016 budget contemplates the continuation of funding to St. Paul Education Regional Division’s Family School Liaison Worker program with $30,000.

Priorities for 2016 for the county’s Agricultural Service Board include: weed control around highways, continuation of the coyote/wolf reduction program, continuation of the Oxeye Daisy program, spraying maps to be communicated with bee keepers in the area, and clubroot education and clubroot inspections.

A number of successful Alberta Community Partnership (ACP) grants will also keep the county busy, with five projects taking place under that umbrella, some headed by the county, and others by surrounding municipalities with the county acting as a partner.


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
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