Budget deliberations project 5.1 per cent tax increase

By Lethbridge Herald on November 18, 2022.

The lights of vehicles blur by as traffic travels along Stafford Drive South Friday evening in front of city hall. The Economic Standing Policy Committee wrapped up budget deliberations Friday, projecting a 5.1 per cent annual property tax increase. Herald photo by Ian Martens

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

That’s a wrap! City council acting as Economic Standing Policy Committee wrapped up five days of budget deliberations Friday morning with unanimous approval to move forward a 5.1 per cent annual property tax increase for council to approve at its Nov. 29 meeting.

The base budget for the next four years called for a 3.77 per cent annual property tax increase. If all initiatives had been approved, the increased cost to taxpayers over four years would have been 6.06 per cent annually.

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.

The SPC during the week addressed 65 new initiatives and 13 council member-sponsored motions, the last of which was brought forward Friday morning.

“It was a little bit of a gruelling process but we saw that coming in. We all have different opinions and we talk to different individuals throughout the community. But the biggest part I want to touch on with this was how we were collegial through the whole process,” mayor Blaine Hyggen said after discussions ended Friday.

He said there were frustrations on some resolutions but to be able to put egos aside and look at what they could do to better the city, “we all came together and it’s something I haven’t seen in my time on council or as mayor. So just to have that respect was second to none,” said the mayor.

Hyggen said he would have preferred a zero per cent increase but with an inflation rate over 11 per cent, “it’s something that just was not achievable. Are there ways that we can become a little more nimble as we look to the future and sharpen pencils to go forward? That’s something, yes, that we can look at and we can continue to look at that. That’s our job.

“But what I think is most important is that we knew that we were coming in, it could have been close to that seven per cent mark,” said the mayor.

But the SPC managed to keep the hike at 5.1 per cent while addressing a need he said was the top concern of many in the city – public safety, Hyggen added.

Being able to support the police and emergency services/fire department “are very important in the time we’re in right now,” Hyggen added.

Fire/EMS hirings are contingent upon a contract being signed with Alberta Health Services.

The mayor said he expects council to pass the budget based on the tone of discussions and debate.

“I can’t foresee a problem being there but there are always discussions that can happen at council level,” said the mayor.

Items that were defeated at the SPC can come back to council, the mayor added, but “I think with the debate throughout the week, though, a lot of the questions were answered so I don’t know if that will happen.”

Councillor Rajko Dodic said “I think we’re actually in a very good place.

“We started at the beginning of the week with a report from administration for us to maintain existing services, we were looking at a tax increase of 3.77 per cent increase,”  he said, noting that figure is less than inflation so the starting point was “pretty good.”

He said public safety is of utmost importance to the citizens.

Dodic added the budget as presented has “a very, very good chance of passing.”

“We have a budget that I think is incredibly reasonable,” said Dodic.

“The events that surround us dictate the budget,” added Dodic, recalling his first stint on council from 2004-07. Because of the financial times then, council was looking at a base budget increase of about 5.6 per cent, higher than the current one. At the time after new initiatives were passed, the budget increase was over seven per cent, he recalled.

“Coming up with a 3.77 base increase is on administration. They did a great job in being able to do that and council was also able to look at the new initiatives, and not approve everything, but approve what council felt were the most important initiatives for our community,” said Dodic.

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