County residents can expect a three per cent municipal tax increase, according to the 2012 draft budget.
Barry Woods, Rocky Viewís financial services manager, said the increase would equate to about $62 per year or $5.20 per month, for a taxpayer who owns a home worth the county-average of $871,000.
Last year, the average homeowner paid $2,057 to County coffers.
ìWhenever a municipality keeps the tax increase similar to the consumer price index, it is like no tax increase at all,î said Reeve Rolly Ashdown. ìWe are looking forward to continuing to diversify our tax base so we can offer more and more services without any dramatic tax increases.î
Ashdown said during the budget process council went through the document line-by-line in an effort to make the County run as efficiently as possible. Making the necessary changes was tough and included the recent restructuring as well as the deferral of several road projects, he added.
ìThere were lots of things we would have liked to do, but we simply couldnít afford to,î said Ashdown.
This yearís draft operating budget includes $126.3 million in expenses, down about $13.5 million from last year. The County is projecting it will spend $42.9 million on capital projects, down $27 million from last year, mostly due to a decrease in projected infrastructure and operations spending.
The capital budget numbers include a $5.6-million transfer from reserve and a significant decrease in grants from $64 million to $18.5 million. Net tax revenue will increase by about $1.42 million, from $81.6 million to $83.1 million, while salaries, wages and benefits expenditures will decrease by $1.8 million, with most of those savings coming from the fire department.
County programming will remain status quo, with the three per cent increase going towards regional recreation funding, inflationary cost increases and councilís strategic priorities, as set out in the 2011-2013 Corporate Strategy.
That strategy identified four critical issues, including financial sustainability, land-use planning, communication and roads, which will drive the Countyís focus over the next several years.
If approved, the Countyís 2012 draft capital budget will fund a number of projects including East Balzac water infrastructure, Balzac fire headquarters, Highway 8 fire station, Bragg Creekís wastewater treatment system, the Pinebrook lift station bypass and the Bragg Creek water treatment plant and distribution main.
The document anticipates construction on several roads including township roads 270 and 272, range roads 31, 32, 33 and 292 and Peigan Trail.
The $10-million debt repayment anticipated in the 2011 Operating budget didnít materialize, because of a lack of development. This year, the item was removed altogether.
Ashdown said the repayment is still possible should developer contributions increase due to growth.
ìThere is no use planning on a payment that relies on a third party to do something,î he said. ìIt is depending on growth in the economy and we have seen some movement upwards. The economic future still looks bright for Rocky View. We are pretty excited about the future.î
