By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Operating Budget passed with 2.15% municipal tax hike

Jan 16, 2019 | 8:49 PM

Red Deer city council has approved the 2019 Operating Budget that features $369.8 million in spending and a 2.15 per cent increase in the municipal portion of property taxes.

That increase includes 1.15 per cent for additional operational spending as well as the annual one per cent allocated for future capital projects.

The expected impact for a home in Red Deer assessed at $325,000 is $47.44 increase in the municipal portion of this year’s property taxes ($3.95 monthly). The final tax rates will be set this spring once the provincial education tax and Piper Creek Foundation requisitions are taken into account. Property tax bills will be sent out in May.

Over the course of seven days of deliberations councillors were able to whittle the tax hike down from 2.5 per cent by finding $3.5 million in cost savings including reduced Sunday and holiday Transit hours, and a reduction of hours at the Collicutt Centre and G.H. Dawe Community Centre.

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Most of the new spending this year is on crime prevention and community safety. A new RCMP officer will be hired to work on child abuse cases with the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre. $690,000 in pre-approved funding will be for hiring two to four new officers and civilian police staff in 2020.

$175,000 was approved to cover a provincial funding shortfall for three new RCMP officers, while $730,000 was greenlighted for two to four additional Mounties and municipal support staff.

$200,000 was approved for the clean-up rough sleeper camps.

Mayor Tara Veer said while councillors may not always agree on the “what” and “how” of budget decisions they are committed to the community when debating them.

“This is a budget like no other – we heard that as a very strong theme recognizing that the recession ensues,” she said. “Normally when we’ve had recessionary years, we’ve seen recovery after two years and that is no longer the case this year.

“There are some areas of focus of priority, community safety being the number one concern of Red Deerians,” she added. “It’s trying to look at the budget in a way that we are still fulfilling our commitment to Red Deerians in other areas of service without compromising on the identified needs of our citizens.”

Councillor Ken Johnston said he was very proud of his City staff colleagues and the work they did to prepare the budget in light of current economic challenges. He feels the approved budget delivers when it comes to addressing top priorities of community safety and policing, roads and snow removal, and facilities.

Councillor Michael Dawe said forebodingly, “Next year will be even more of a sharp budget decision, because what’s coming may be even harsher than what we recognize.”

Each city councillor who spoke thanked City Manager Craig Curtis for his work this week and over the years. Curtis is retiring in March following a 43-year career in municipal government.

Curtis in turn commended councillors for their work in dealing with a budget he’s described as the toughest he’s seen.