Budget review highlights county spending policies

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

The final 2019-2021 operating budget was approved by Wheatland County council on April 2, as well as the 2019-2023 capital budget.
Wheatland County staff stated they highlighted updates on the budget document for council and public reading convenience.
Brian Henderson, corporate financial services manager with Wheatland County, said the overall adjustments from the last draft had balanced themselves out for the final document. He noted some of the new spending in the operating budget, such as the Strathmore field house, increased CRISP funding and increases in fuel costs. The budget sometimes varies on grants received and projects approved. Investments had gone up about four per cent.
Council members took the time to question some of the line entries and Deputy Reeve Glenn Koester cautioned council on the depletion of county reserve funds. Henderson stated restricted reserves had decreased by $1.2 million.
Koester said the overall budget dropped $13 million from 2018 to 2019. He said it took the county a long time to develop surplus reserves and he didn’t want to see a scenario where the county was continually using reserves to cover spending shortfalls.
“Last year we had a surplus. This year we spent reserve money. We cannot continue to do that,” he said. “When we are taking money out of reserves, we have to look at what we spend.”
He said many community projects were funded directly by the county, instead of allowing residents to request funding and provide a portion of the project costs. Koester said the county cannot afford to fully fund all requests, and he would like the communities to choose their spending priorities. He would like more details on project proposals and better communication with the community members.
“Two more years and taxes will have to double to cover it,” said Koester. ”We haven’t done any long term planning and we are going down a slippery slope.”
“If it goes down, there are ways to make it come back up,” said Henderson. “It is a matter of spending.”
Other council members said various factors may be in play, such as the hit to Alberta’s economy from decreased oil and gas revenue, increased provincial tax payments, reduced linear payments, costs of funding things with increasing regulations, liability coverage increases and increasing construction costs. The Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) directs members to increase community, recreational and employment services in areas under the CMRB mandate, but what will be expected is not known at present, so it may be another cost that needs long term planning initiatives.
Councillor Jason Wilson stated he would rather see investment in the community, rather than building large reserve funds.
There is a recreational master plan being developed for the county, which should be ready by 2020. It was hoped it would include equitable processes to fund the various community interests, while balancing budget needs.
Council approved cutting playground equipment expenditure for the Eagle Lake campground.
Council discussed other projects that may need to be cut for savings but could not agree on which district would be willing to cut their projects or how the cuts would be justified. Reeve Amber Link suggested all districts need to be reviewed for project cuts.