“When we deliberated, Council and Administration worked towards a common goal of keeping taxes to a minimum,” said Councillor Saindon. “In the future, I expect Administration to bring all budget numbers forward during deliberations.”
“These numbers need to be in the budget prior to approval,” he said. “I don’t see this as a good start to transparent governance.”
Chief Administrative Officer Tully Clifford said it is difficult to know what the increases for the Seniors Housing Authority and Alberta School Foundation Fund requisitions will be, and therefore it is hard to include these figures during budget deliberations.
“We really don’t know when we’re going through the budgeting process what those amounts will be,” said Clifford, adding that Administration could do a better job of communicating these issues to Council during the process.
Director of Finance and Systems Marion Vanoni said rate payers will see very little impact on their taxes from the SHA requisition, and that they will see a slight increase due to the ASFF requisition, which increased by $175,209 this year.
She said residents will see an increase of $8 to $80, based on property value.
Tax notices will be mailed out during the last week of April, and taxes will be due back within 60 days, no later than June 30th.