Okotoks residents won’t see an increase to the municipal portion of their tax bills this year.
Council voted at its April 27 meeting to hold the municipal tax rate at a zero per cent increase to assist residents who may be struggling during COVID-19. The change came during a revised budget discussion that resulted in a number of capital and operating projects being cancelled or postponed in light of the current economic situation.
“Right now, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned life upside-down,” said CAO Elaine Vincent. “It is impacting every Canadian’s way of life and their economic and mental health. We cannot wait for the COVID-19 pandemic to be over to adjust the financial impact it is having on municipal budgets.”
Vincent said it’s important to focus on corporate recovery in order to add employment and cash flow back into the local economy as soon as possible.
“We need to not be reliant on other levels of government for that support. There is not enough money to save everyone right now, and where we can save ourselves we must take steps to do that,” she said.
In Okotoks, the projected reduction of revenue is $5 million. Assuming a one per cent tax increase equals approximately $290,000, the Town would require a 17 per cent tax increase to match its revenue losses, she said.
“We know that is not the appropriate step,” said Vincent. “Covering the municipal losses through a one-time municipal tax levy is not a viable option.”
Instead, the Town looked to its departments to cut costs and reduce expenses in order to alleviate the hit on revenues from closure of recreation and cultural facilities in 2020.
It began with laying off non-permanent staff from the community services department in March and April, putting a hiring freeze on position vacancies and not hiring any summer staff for recreation or parks. In addition, temporary service level reductions will be implemented.
Nancy Weigel, corporate and strategic services director for the Town, said staff reductions were done with a focus on still being able to provide essential services to the community while meeting the public health orders of the Province.
“We have retained the remaining permanent staff by cross-training and temporarily redeploying 50 per cent of them to cover other essential and vital services like parks as an example, where seasonal staff will not be hired,” said Weigel. “We do believe this cross-training will benefit the Town in both the short and the long-term, as we will have a more adaptable workforce.”
Reduction in staff will be felt most by the parks department, which typically has the highest rate of temporary summer employment for maintenance of community parks and pathways. In response, and to help reduce service levels, less mowing will take place in Okotoks over the summer.
“That would mean some of the areas that are normally a little bit manicured, we’re going to see a little longer grass and those kinds of things,” said Chris Radford, Okotoks infrastructure and operations director.
Mowing contracts for third-party work have also been cut down, he said.
Tree and flower-planting will be reduced this year, and the Town will be putting about 40 trees in the ground in May and putting together smaller floral displays than typical years.
“We’re also looking at areas where we will reduce furnishings such as bike racks, park benches, players’ benches, garbage receptacles as well. Some of those things we’ll be looking at,” said Radford.
Susan Laurin, director of community services, said planning for the department is much like shaking the Magic 8-Ball for an answer and getting something different each time. Her forecast for reopening rec facilities and cultural buildings like the art gallery and museum is based on every-changing mandates from the Province.
At this time, closures will be until at least July 2, she said.
“We are under the assumption there would be a gradual reopening and a slower uptake by the public of group activities,” said Laurin.
When the Province lifts its restrictions on public activity it will still take some time to reopen Okotoks facilities, she said.
The ice has been taken out of rinks and the pool water is being kept at a cool 16 degrees Celsius to help alleviate costs of maintenance during the closure, which she said is more efficient and financially feasible than draining the entire pool.
Reflooding the rinks and raising the temperature of the pool, as well as retraining temporarily laid-off staff will take two to three weeks, she said.
Once things are back up and running, they will be on modified schedules in light of reduced staff and budget dollars, she said. The pool will be open about 60 hours per week as opposed to 105 hours normally, and rinks will operate for 60 to 70 hours per week instead of 125 to 130.
“We’re also looking at possibly opening two sheets of ice instead of four,” said Laurin. “This would reduce the time available for all of our programs, all of our drop-in activities, minor hockey, swim clubs, figure skating, and we will be working with all of our user groups.”
The art gallery and museum will open only five days per week rather than six to cut costs in culture as well, she said.
Some 2020 projects were put on the chopping block and others delayed to save money.
The $200,000 set aside for the Alberta Summer Games bid have been deferred to 2021 pending Provincial announcements, as well as $70,000 of the sports court resurfacing cost. In addition, council cancelled an interchange functional plan at a cost of $100,000 and reduced recreation facility expenditures from $390,000 to $170,000.
Some projects were added to the capital project list – phase four of the downtown vitalization project at $2.6 million, funded from utility reserves; Northridge Drive urbanization, which is 75 per cent funded by off-site levies; and upgrades to the recreation centre’s ice plant at $2.25 million, of which $730,000 comes from provincial grants and the remaining dollars from reserve accounts or Municipal Sustainability Initiative grants.
The Town will also be putting up $185,000 for business disaster recovery and $280,000 for a regional water study in conjunction with Foothills County, which has contributed $125,000 toward it.
Coun. Ken Heemeryck said he appreciated the time administration spent to rework the Town’s budget.
“This is a ton of work but I think it had to be done and we’ll do what we can to keep the tax rate as low as possible in this difficult time,” said Heemeryck.
Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca
COVID-19 UPDATE: Follow our COVID-19 special section for the latest local and national news on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as resources, FAQs and more.
