Inflation is steep, but the overall Burns Lake budget is much like last year’s version.
According to the Village’s director of finance, Pamela Anderson, the cost of Canadian goods and services has become higher and slower to obtain, to the point it has become painful for the general public. What the Village staff, through to mayor and council, did not want to do was heap more economic pressure onto local taxpayers.
That’s why taxes in Burns Lake are going up uniformly across all tax brackets - the same 6.73 per cent. All told, property taxes in the amount of $1,769,327 are needed to balance the coming year’s budget.
And what is this money for?
The top four expenditure departments are:
- Transportation (which is everything to do with public works that isn’t sewer and water) $1,103,851
- Recreation $938,903
- Economic Development $938,761
- General Government (legislative, admin, finance) $902,504.
“Please note however that although these are the top expenditures it does not necessary mean these are where the majority of the property tax revenues are allocated, as there are grants, transfers, and other incomes which help offset some of these expenses,” said Anderson.
Top property tax allocations are
- Public Works (general, equipment, street and sidewalks) $722,000
- Admin and Legislative $444,200
- Recreation $347,600
- Protective Services $175,300
So how is it that tax income amounts to just under $1.8-million but there is more than $3.8-million on the board just from the four departments singled out? It’s because property taxes aren’t the only source of income for a municipality, although in the case of Burns Lake, with almost no industry, which is where so many towns and cities derive their most lucrative tax basket, it makes for a budget that is undecided on many goals.
“The areas that would be of most interest to residents would be the items that really aren’t funded by property tax revenues. The special projects which are funded by grants and reserves,” said Anderson.
“The large majority of grants are for capital projects we want to take on,” she said. “In a high majority of these cases if we don’t get the grant, we won’t take on the initiative. If we do get grants for capital projects, any remaining amount we have to cover comes from reserves set aside so, once again, no property tax increase is required for these projects.
“The same is true for any grants for operational expenses. If the grant is not received we do not take on the initiative, as we are banking on those funds to help pay for the expense and therefore have not taxed residents for it, so if the grant is not received the expense will not occur. For example, we hire summer students each year which is largely funded by grants. If we want to hire four students but only get a grant for three, we will only hire three students.”
Some special projects anticipated in 2023:
· Climate initiatives (through the Local Government Climate Action Grant): creation of an updated Community & Corporate Emissions Plan to guide the municipality on effective climate change initiatives and goals to set, and an e-bike green transportation and rebate program
· Radley Beach playground replacement – (grant funding secured)
· 9th Ave sidewalk project, $500,000 grant awarded by the province through the Active Transportation funding stream
· New sewer treatment plant (grant pending)
· Construction of new fire hall (grant pending)
“The departments worked very hard to keep a tight budget this year due to the high inflationary environment,” Anderson said. The only exceptions being “a couple thousand dollars here and there, but no major budget increases for items outside of normal operations. An additional $20,000 has been added for line painting on Center Street and to cover additional wages for sidewalk clearing and maintenance, due to the installation of new sidewalks.”
The five-year financial plan on which this annual budget is based will go for three readings March 14, and if approved, the document goes for final approval at the public council meeting of March 28.
“At this point the budget is finalized,” Anderson said. “The tax rate bylaw cannot be passed until I receive the requisitions from other taxing authorities (such as) hospital, Regional District, School District, etc, which I have not yet received. This bylaw has to be adopted by May 12th this year. At this point the tax rate is finalized. The five year financial plan also must be adopted by then.”