Council passes budget with 5.1 per cent tax increase

By Lethbridge Herald on November 29, 2022.

Mayor Blaine Hyggen speaks in council chambers as Lethbridge city council on Tuesday unanimously approved the four-year operating budget. Herald photo by Al Beeber

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge city council on Tuesday unanimously approved the four-year operating budget which will result in an annual residential property tax increase of 5.1 per cent.

The budget was unanimously recommended to council when it acted as Economic Standing Policy Committee following a week of deliberations.

“I think we kind of knew the direction that we’d be going,” Mayor Blaine Hyggen said Tuesday, referring to the SPC’s unanimous vote to move the budget forward to council. 

“We knew it wasn’t going to be a zero when we’ve had three previous years of zero. We knew there had to be some increase when you look at what’s happening currently” with an inflation rate of 6.9 per cent.

“So dividing this up over eight years, these four previous and four going forward it’s 2.9 (per cent) so that’s still below inflation. We tried to do the best that we could for sure.”

He said the budget addresses city needs.

“It’s most important to obviously support the needs within our community. You hear rumours of recession, et cetera, and it’s really important that we definitely focus on the needs over those wants right now until we have a more stable economy,” the mayor added.

Hyggen said he’s had discussions with members of a mid-city mayor’s group consisting of 24 communities and all have mentioned there will be increases in taxes this year.

“Some of these groups have mentioned there’s going to be an increase and they didn’t have zeroes in the previous three years so they may not be hit as hard. We’re looking at the different numbers and some are higher and some are lower,” he said.

Hyggen said council heard clearly that public safety was the top concern of residents.

“That equates to three quarters of a per cent of taxation over top of the base budget of 3.77,” said the mayor adding that council after hearing from residents “definitely wanted to invest in the police service.

Deputy mayor Ryan Parker said council never wants to increase taxes but believes the community understands the city is living through inflationary times.

“It’s hard to hold the line – we held the line for three straight years and kudos to the administration for making it work.”

But he added costs are rising and “You have to have some kind of increase.” He said with the increase, residents are getting more police officers, more EMS staff and “they’re getting the parks crew back to where they should be. I think people understand and appreciate that as well,” Parker added.

“Being unanimous, I think it shows council’s understanding and respect of the process and also understanding that we need to move forward, he added.

During debate on the motion to approve the budget, councillor Rajko Dodic addressed the zero per cent increase on taxes during the pandemic and said administration faced a daunting task given inflation but sharpened their pencils to arrive at the base 3.77 per cent increase before SPC approved new initiatives.

“It’s time to pay the piper.”

Councillor Jeff Carlson said the budget was fiscally responsible and progressive.

If all budget initiatives had been approved, taxpayers would have faced an annual increase of 6.06 per cent.

Increases to protective services takes up just more than half of the annual increase which will amount to a hike of $129.93 per single family residence based on an average market value of $285,800.

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