Back row L-R: Reeve Paul McLauchlin, Deputy Reeve Mark Matejka. Front row L-R: Coun. Doug Weir, Coun. Nancy Hartford, Coun. Bryce Liddle. (Ponoka County website)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

REEVE PAUL MCLAUCHLIN

2024 wrap up: Ponoka County

Dec 29, 2024 | 8:00 AM

With 2024 coming to a close, Ponoka County Reeve Paul McLauchlin is proud of his team’s success in “holding the line” this year amidst financial constraints caused, in part, by costs downloaded to municipalities from the province.

“I think we’ve done the best job we could as a team and ensured that we provided the best service to the good folks in Ponoka County and still remain to be one of the lowest taxes, if not the lowest, tax in the province of Alberta,” he said.

McLauchlin said changes to police funding, the intermunicipal collaboration frameworks and unpaid provincial property taxes have all put strain on the county, along with other municipalities in the province.

“That downloading has been pretty significant,” he reflected. “At the same time, the cost of infrastructure maintenance, the cost of maintaining the service levels we have has gotten way more expensive. That’s really been the biggest challenge, I think, to our municipality. Counties had a tough time maintaining that.”

Despite the challenges, the county was able to purchase a new fire hall for the Town of Rimbey, an accomplishment McLauchlin was proud to share.

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He added that council demonstrated excellent teamwork again this year, continuing to show that officials can disagree and still make progress and get things done.

“I think that [at] our level of governance we don’t agree on everything, but we sure found a way to work with each other,” he said. “We’ve actually had the same council for three terms… I think that’s a huge accomplishment.”

With a municipal election set for the fall of 2025, McLauchlin said that council’s priorities will be focused on leaving the county in a better state than when they began serving it.

“There’s never any guarantees that you’ll be reelected, so make sure you’ve left it in a good place, and I think we’re doing that from a fiscal standpoint, from a governance standpoint,” said McLauchlin.

He added that he hopes to see more citizens get involved in municipal politics and put their hat in the ring for the next election and encourages anyone who’s curious to look into it further and see if it’s a good fit.

Reeve McLauchlin expects to announce whether he will be running again in January.

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Other Ponoka County highlights

• Wetlands projects in Ponoka County and Red Deer get provincial funding
• Ponoka County and Blackfalds students receive hands-on drone lesson

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