ESTEVAN - Estevan city council took a long look at the 2025 budget during a pair of meetings.
The first session on Tuesday gave council the opportunity to speak with third-party grant recipients about their plans for the upcoming year and what they do with the money they receive from the city. Then council went through the full fiscal plan at a lengthy meeting Wednesday. It's the first time going through the budget process for the current council, which has three new councillors and another councillor who is returning after an eight-year absence.
"It was very interesting to see the new councillors engaged in the process, asking questions," said city manager Jeff Ward. "There were a lot of questions about assessment and taxation, and what that looks like, and so they do want to continue to have public engagement."
The city's management team did a really good job with submitting requests for 2025, Ward said, and he thought the new council asked a lot of "really good questions".
"It's a very large budget, and it can be really overwhelming for somebody new," said Ward.
The initial financial year summary calls for $27,721,023 in revenue, with $22,773,046 from taxes and grants, $4,897,975 in fees and charges, and $50,000 from land sales and offsite revenues. Since the initial document was brought forward, a two per cent municipal property tax increase, which would generate $320,000, has been proposed by city administration.
Ward said the increase was not from council and has not been approved.
"The costs for wages and construction and all that stuff is up," said Ward. "So similar to what the reason was for last year, the administration is proposing a two per cent tax increase."
If the city continues to move forward with zero per cent property tax increases, as it did for several years prior to 2024, then Ward said there won't be money for future capital projects or debt reduction.
Increases to the carbon tax, utilities, and costs of labour and supplies also impact the city's finances, he said.
The results for the provincial reassessment will be announced later this year as well, as Ward noted everyone's taxes will change, and there will be increases and decreases in every tax class.
Operating expenses are pegged at $26,229,959, with policing ($6,360,881), general government ($5,675,898) and roads and landfill ($4,394,622) the biggest expenses.
Revenues for the utility operations fund are $6,378,496, while expenses are $5,253,717. The 2025 budget does not increase utility rates.
The document also includes $4.133 million in capital costs between the general and utility funds, including $1 million for the downtown revitalization project. Work will continue in the 1100 and 1200 blocks of Fourth Street. Tree planting, paving stones, and other tasks still need to be completed.
The city has applied for additional grants to "potentially" cover the $1 million cost, Ward said.
Also in the budget is $400,000 for electrical work at the Smith Street water reservoir. Now that the rehabilitation of the water tower has been completed, Ward said the city is looking at all of the electrical and internal piping within the reservoir.
The project has been held off the past couple of years, but Ward said the city needs to ensure there is proper water pressure in the area.
"It is a 32-week lead time on these pumps, from my understanding, so part of it will be at the very end of this year, and part of it will be at the very start of next year, and council has kind of agreed let's do this all at once, but it would be broken up as $400,000 for this year and $400,000 next year," he said.
There is also $530,000 for a new swimming pool in the Hillside Playpark. Discussions were held on having a pool similar to the one installed at the Churchill Playpark, Ward said, as well as talks about the impact of the parks to bring communities together.
There is also $300,000 for city hall and leisure centre boilers, and money for sidewalk upgrades, and for vehicle fleet renewals for police, fire and public works.
The budget calls for net debt reduction of $1,011,169, with $2,528,328 in repayment and $1,517,159 in borrowing to cover projected capital costs. Ward expects the city's long-term debt will be less than $11.7 million by the end of 2025.
Another $376,638 will be paid in interest.
Ward noted there was a really good discussion on facility upkeep and maintenance for a lot of capital assets that were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Estevan isn't the only community facing this challenge, and so money will have to be put into them as they near their end of life.
"We don't want to have a catastrophic failure, so I think there will be a push on this term to make sure that all of our facilities are upkept, and we're taking a pro-active approach on a lot of our facility maintenance."
And while the city has been seeking public feedback on the budget for years before giving its approval, Ward said council want to do more to get the thoughts from the community.
The budget is expected to be passed during one of the meetings in February.
