Wheatland County adopts 2026-29 strategic plan focused on finances, services and growth

By Melissa Crispin-Piche Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wheatland County council has approved a new four-year strategic plan that will guide municipal budgeting, service delivery and development decisions through 2029.

Council adopted the 2026-2029 plan on Sept. 22 after discussing public input, economic development and how the county intends to measure whether its goals are actually being achieved.

The plan is organized around five community drivers: financial resilience, responsible cost management, measurable service excellence, strategic growth and development, and better public understanding. 

General Manager of Corporate and Financial Services Cory Adamson said the document was built around priorities established by council following the 2025 municipal election.

“This strategic plan was created with council and is a council document,” Adamson said.

He described the structure as a progression from why the county is pursuing a goal to what it wants to accomplish and then how administration will carry it out.

“The formulation of this plan tells a story of why, what and how council wishes to proceed in their strategic plan,” he said.

The county plans to use the document as the basis for more detailed corporate and departmental business plans. Those plans will establish specific actions, timelines and performance measures.

Adamson said measuring results will form part of the next stage. 

“We’re going to look to see how we can measure the success of the things that we’re doing,” said Adamson.

Coun. Rick Laursen said some of the broad goals will be more difficult to quantify than others.

“What gets measured gets done,” Laursen said, before asking how the county would evaluate targets such as stronger partnerships, increased regional investment and more effective use of outside resources.

Adamson said those measurements would be developed during administrative planning.

Council also discussed how much public engagement went into the strategic plan.

Administration said a budget engagement survey conducted earlier in the year received about 40 responses, but clarified the survey had been conducted primarily to help inform service levels and the budget rather than specifically to create the strategic plan.

CAO Sherry Baers said the strategic plan itself is intended to establish council’s direction to administration. 

“This is council’s document that sets their priorities for guiding the county in a direction over this term,” Baers said.

She added that broader county planning documents, including the Municipal Development Plan, had gone through extensive public engagement and helps inform some of the strategic plan’s direction.

Baers said she welcomed the fact that residents were scrutinizing the plan. 

“We create them and we’re being held accountable, and I really appreciate that,” she said.

She also called for more discussion about economic development including where the county wants growth to occur and whether additional resources are needed to attract development.

Other discussion centred on the county’s reliance on non-residential assessment.

During the meeting, administration said Wheatland County expects about $33.6 million in municipal property tax revenue in 2026, including roughly $4.8 million from residential property, $2.9 million from farmland, $18.4 million from non-residential assessment and $7.5 million from machinery and equipment.

The plan states that future departmental plans, budgets and reporting will be tied back to the strategic objectives so council can track progress over the remainder of its term. 

Council approved the plan as presented.