County approves tax rate bylaw
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Wheatland County approved the third and final reading of its Tax Rate Bylaw 2024-09 during the April 3 special council meeting.
During the regular council meeting which took place April 2, council passed both first and second readings of the bylaw.
Additionally, council approved the 2024 final operating and capital budgets with a directive to increase overall property tax revenue by three per cent.
Council was unable to pass third reading of the bylaw during the April 2 meeting due to unanimous consent to hold the third reading during the same meeting not being granted. Supplementary information at the time was requested for reserves.
Through council’s request, administration provided a breakdown of the 2024 approved operating budget reserves, which is also publicly available via the April 3 special meeting of council agenda package.
The 2024 final operating budget as approved by council, April 2, consists of a total net drawdown of reserved by approximately $2.1 million, which comes from several increases and decreases in expenses, detailed in the report.
According to the Municipal Government Act, municipalities are required to pass a balanced budget through their annual reviews.
The figure presented as the “Operating Budget Balancing” in the agenda is a budgeted draw from reserves, driven by cost pressures taking place over multiple years.
This is also part of a strategy chosen by council in order to defer tax revenue increases in order to incentivize future growth and relieve present day financial pressures on county residents.
The approved 2024 capital plan also does not include any additions of Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF) or Canada Community Building Fund (CCBF) grant values for 2025 through to 2028.
For the purposes of projecting reserves, administration has presented the 2024 grant amounts being assumed for all years and using them to reduce the required draw on reserve funded projects.
Additionally, the administration has noted the county is often able to obtain Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP) grant funding. This is an application-based program which is not factored into the projection, though was presented as important to consider as a possible reduction in the requirements to draw from county reserves.
The current 2024 year was presented with a placeholder in the capital projections in the hopes that the county will receive $1.75 million in STIP funding.
Total reserves which will be maintained by the county are projected using the assumptions made in the capital and operating plans.
More information, as well as exact numbers and figures are available via the recorded county meeting minutes, as well as via the public meeting agenda.