Okotoks council held three days of budget deliberations last week to decide on its 2020 numbers.
The proposed $62.559 million budget would include $55.885 million in expenditures, repayment of $3.482 million into reserves and $3.232 million in capital funds. There would be property tax increased of three per cent over 2019, making taxes on the typical home $5.81 per month higher.
A tax increase of three per cent would be more than the two per cent rise in the 2019 consumer price index, to cover the potential bid to host the Alberta Summer Games.
Mayor Bill Robertson said the joint council and finance and audit committee meetings went well, and there will be some points revisited at the Dec. 9 council meeting.
“I think everybody has a few things they would like to discuss and perhaps revive,” said Robertson. “When we have basically 10 members, it’s difficult to have all 10 member agree on everything.”
Key components of the proposed budget included $100,000 for a functional plan on an interchange at 338 Avenue and Highway 2, $350,000 for an off-leash area and urbanization project on Northridge Drive, $309,000 for filter replacement in Swindells Pool at the Okotoks Recreation Centre, and $480,000 in maintenance project at the rec centre.
The Town recommends saving $35,000 by not running a municipal census in 2020 due to a low return on investment.
There are also allotments for three new full-time firefighter positions, $1.35 million for the purchase of water licences, and $11.72 million for wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
“We started that project last year,” said Okotoks infrastructure and operations director Chris Radford. “It’s a multi-year project.”
In 2019, a combined treatment unit was installed and work on that major treatment vessel will continue into 2020, he said.
There will also be some equipment updates and critical system redundancies included in the work next year, as well as headwork and screening, he said.
The total cost of the upgrades is $35 million over 10 years.
“This year we changed some of the numbers as we get better cost estimates and contracts, and some timing changes as well,” said Radford. “But it hasn’t changed that much.”
The wastewater treatment plant upgrades are required to accommodate an Okotoks population of up to 42,000 people, and to replace certain parts that have reached their end of life, he said.
“It’s some new construction, planning for the future, and taking advantage of everything right now,” said Radford.
