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By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

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Red Deer County seeking public input on proposed budgets

Dec 3, 2022 | 12:12 PM

Red Deer County council has tabled debate of the 2023-2025 capital and operating budgets, as well as the 2023-2027 capital plan, in order to seek public feedback.

In a release, the County says the proposed budgets illustrate inflationary pressures, and also maintain service levels with a 3.5 per cent tax increase.

“Council is being prudent and items like road and bridge upgrades still make up the bulk of our capital budget,” says Mayor Jim Wood. “Administration has put in a lot of logic in this budget, initiatives such as broadband is underway to help serve County residents, it is important to get this out to our public for their input.”

According to the County:

Capital spending in 2023 is proposed to increase to $42.4M from last year’s $21.6M. This is mainly due to land development in the south-end location of the hamlet of Springbrook and building the broadband infrastructure. The Operating budget will also see a very slight increase from $56.7M to $58.9M. Thanks to partnerships with other levels of government, the County is undertaking significant public works projects while not creating unnecessary tax increases to the public.

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“Red Deer County administration has worked hard to create a draft budget that accomplishes significant work in both scope and scale, ensuring service levels are protected. We have made every effort to find partnerships with other levels of government to ease the burden on Red Deer County finances,” says Director of Corporate Services, Heather Surkan.

“The operating budget and capital plan is a ‘Back to Basics’ services, as we anticipate resuming our normal capital work program in 2024, although fraught with inflationary pressures, there are still items such as land sale(s) and potentially a larger government grant which bring a measure of finality to our heavy investment spending.”

Members of the public have two weeks to provide feedback on the information being presented. The draft budget report can be found online at www.rdcounty.ca/budget Once public comments are received, the budget will return to council on December 13, 2022 for approval.

Key Initiatives for 2023:

• Bridge Program $3.6M
• Fire Apparatus/ Protective Services Vehicle Replacement $1.2M
• Internet Broadband Infrastructure* $14M
• Junction 42 Infrastructure and Land Development $1.7M
• County Centre – parking lot repairs and paving upgrades $1.5M
• Red Deer Regional Airport (Capital Contribution)* $1.3M
• Springbrook main Lift Station $1.1M
• Springbrook South Development $7.1M