(L-R) City of Lacombe Mayor Grant Creasey and Chief Administrative Officer Matthew Goudy at City Hall. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Alessia Proietti

Reflecting in the new year

Year in Review: Lacombe mayor says city is in positive financial and communal position after growth

Jan 13, 2023 | 12:16 PM

The City of Lacombe says they are starting off 2023 in a good financial and communal position following a year of growth.

In a year-end interview this week, Mayor Grant Creasey and Chief Administrative Officer Matthew Goudy described their highlights of 2022, some including the completion of the Vesta Energy Fish & Fetch Park, the e-scooter pilot project, return of community events like Lacombe Days in high attendance, and the Heart of Lacombe landmark established in the downtown.

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Some old projects were kept anew through their designation as Municipal Historic Resources. The city had three designations last year: the home of former Lacombe mayor H.M. Trimble, the downtown Flatiron Building and the Denike Block building.

Goudy said it was the most designations given in a single year in Lacombe.

“It’s nice to see that when some of our nearby neighbours aren’t able to continue supporting their heritage preservation programs, it’s nice to see that Lacombe’s is really healthy and there’s still interest in the community,” he said.

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From a service perspective, the mayor said lots of positive feedback has been received regarding road improvements due to the City’s modified and structured system and Special Paving Tax compared to the more “ad hoc approach” of previous years.

READ: Lacombe city council approves 2.7% tax hike, and new pavement levy

However, some challenges were faced in the snow removal sector at the end of the year with winter’s early and heavy introduction. Goudy confirmed the City exceeded their $170,000 budget by $30,000, which he says was a rarity, but was able to pay the funds using reserves.

Overall, Goudy says the City is in a healthy “financial position that is really enviable for a lot of other communities”, enabling tax increases to be kept below Consumer Price Indexes.

“We’re going to be finalizing our books in the next month or two and we’ll have a healthy surplus here again,” he said.

Not only has the City expanded funding opportunities like the Community Builder Partnership Grant and the Recreation and Culture Grant as a result, but Goudy also says 2022 was their best year yet for issuing development permits, which provided an increase in tax revenue.

Goudy said that while many “institutional” permits have been given in prior years for projects relating to public buildings, they do not impact tax revenues. However, last year’s permits were mixed between commercial, industrial, renovation and 130 new homes, their most to date in one year.

In 2023, Creasey says he hopes to see the completion of other projects such as a new public works facility, where some parts of the building were even built before World War II, and the accessible fishing dock in April, in time for June’s Kids Can Catch event.

READ: Lacombe to fund accessible fishing dock

No matter how many years go by, the one thing that never changes, according to the mayor, is the unique and special people within the community.

“[There are] so many people that are invested in this community, through their volunteer work, that continue to produce a very enviable place to live, not just in Alberta, but all over the world. We consistently rank high because of the lifestyle that is available for everyone here in Lacombe,” he said.

“It all boils back down to the people who live here.”