Airdrie residents will see increases to taxes, utility costs and user fees in the new year amounting to an increase of approximately $5 per month for the average homeowner, following City council’s approval of the 2020 operating and capital budgets at a regular meeting Dec. 2.
“Balancing community wants and needs with the resources required to support them is a difficult task,” said Mayor Peter Brown in a City press release. “We recognize that many families and businesses in our community are still experiencing financial difficulties in this unpredictable economy, and I think this budget reflects that.”
According to Lucy Wiwcharuk, director of Corporate Services, raising municipal taxes by 1.5 per cent, combined with the other fee increases, will bring in an additional $906,000 in revenue to close the City’s budget gap. The revenue will be used to fund four firefighters, two RCMP officers and additional RCMP administrative staff, along with civic services.
However, some councillors were concerned 1.5 per cent isn’t enough to account for upcoming major capital projects anticipated in future budgets, including the new library facility, a west side recreation facility, a fire hall and infrastructure investments in the downtown core – suggesting more significant increases to municipal taxes would be necessary.
“I can’t support this budget at that,” said Deputy Mayor Candice Kolson. “I know that my family would struggle with a 12 per cent tax increase – all of our families, at this level, would struggle with that. I think just under a three per cent tax increase this year to avoid that five years down the road is the right decision to make.”
Coun. Tina Petrow agreed, saying while she understands residents are already facing “really tough times,” approving a budget that anticipates a future reliance on tax stabilization funding is “not a responsible way to move forward when we have these large increases coming up.”
Several councillors indicated they had spoken with residents during the budget deliberation process. While stating his support for the proposed budget, Coun. Al Jones told his colleagues that he’d communicated with one homeowner who was struggling to make ends meet and suggested higher taxes might force the resident to sell his property.
“If next year [municipal taxes went up to] 12 per cent, what would happen to that gentleman?” Petrow asked.
While Jones said he wasn’t in the resident’s situation, he would assume “much the same,” adding “but that doesn’t mitigate his needs for today.” Petrow countered saying she doesn’t expect the situation to improve significantly in the near future, and she’d hate to have people in “worse positions next year because of decisions we made right now.”
“I’m hoping that we, as leadership, can move the community in such a way that we’re not experiencing such hardships in the future,” Jones said. “Maybe I’m naïve, but I am not willing to throw up my arms and look at the future with doom and gloom.”
The budget was approved by a vote of 5-2, with opposition from Kolson and Petrow.
Notable changes to services include additional Access Airdrie transit service on Saturdays with the cancellation of on-demand service, the deferral of a project to redevelop the dressing room/front entrance at Plainsmen Arena and the removal of a project to upgrade the Monklands washroom/storage facility, along with an enhanced animal services program.
The Blue Zones project will continue into 2020 at a cost of $608,000, Wiwcharuk noted, with funding from the General Operating Reserve to ensure it does not impact the tax base.
“Over the course of 2019 to 2021, the City will be investing $1.8 million in this initiative,” she said.
Additionally, the 2020 capital budget includes $32.5 million for the 40 Avenue interchange, according to Wiwcharuk, with funds coming from offsite levies and grants. She added lobbying efforts will continue for the provincial portion of funding required for the project.
Despite their opposition, both Kolson and Petrow said they were impressed with how administration drafted a budget that maintained most services currently provided by the municipality.
“A big concern that I hear frequently is how efficiently are our dollars being used…and I keep telling them that, yes, we are,” Petrow said. “Our staff do a very responsible job of finding those efficiencies within the organization to decrease those costs and to do more with the same. But we don’t highlight that to the public.”
