Lethbridge County council approves 2022 budget

By Southern Alberta Newspapers on December 24, 2021.

Lethbridge County Council has approved the 2021-2023 Operating and 2021-2025 Capital Budgets.

The capital budget is an estimate of just shy of $10 million and the operating budget is a total of $28,043,565 in operating expenditures be approved as the 2022 Interim Operating Budget until such time as a Final 2022 Operating Budget is approved.

“The impact summary just as a refresh is that we’re looking at about a 1.621 per cent increase on the proposed budget or draft budget that you have before you; we went through it yesterday with the legislative adjustments of the $420,750 budget additions, are changes that were made internally by administration of $435,605 and then efficiencies and cost savings of over $600,000, so that brings us to our net of $250,300 dollar increase from the 2021 budget,” said Jennifer Place, Manager of Finance and Administration for the County.

In addition to expected expenses, Lethbridge County is required by the province through the Inter-Municipal Collaboration Framework agreements to pay for recreation funding to municipalities within its boundaries.

The County of Lethbridge has allocated $10,000 annually to each of the community halls and the prairie tractor organization within the county, which is included within the 2022 budget.

“Moving forward into 2023 and 2024 no revenue required there with the decrease in the strategic plan, just back to the regular annual cost of doing it in-house; we didn’t require any funding. We did put in a one per cent COLA, and that is basically across the board you’re going to see it for years 2023 and 2024, so that is just to kind of incorporate inflation. It’s not a guarantee obviously, but we thought we should include something in there, and I know union negotiation will be taking place, so that’s all up in the air as well,” added Place.

Place had also noted a $5,000 annual transfer to reserves to fund the municipal election, so by year four, that gives about a $20,000 budget for the election that occurs every four years.

The total budget document is available to view on the Lethbridge County website at https://lethcounty.ca/p/budget-2021.