WEYBURN – Weyburn’s city council passed the final version of the 2024 budget on Monday night with a 5.2 per cent increase in taxes, down from the initial increase of 6.47 per cent in the preliminary budget.
The reduction will mean an average home assessed at $250,000 will have a tax increase of $46, and with the $40 increase in the base tax, the total tax increase will be $86, about $7.16 per month. This would bring the average total municipal tax bill to $1,082, with the base tax of $805, and an estimated education tax amount of $1,135.
After the budget was proposed on Oct. 23, an open house was held on Nov. 7, and further input was invited from residents on tweaking the budget.
Some of the reductions made in the budget was the removal of a proposal for council chamber seating upgrades, updated insurance costs, updated wages, updates on additional grant revenue and pricing of the asphalt rehabilitation project, and an update on a transfer of funds from reserves for a vehicle for the police department.
Coun. Jeff Richards gave kudos to city staff for getting the increase down, noting this will make Weyburn the fifth lowest city in the province for residential taxes.
‘That is a very good place to be,” he said, adding that the commercial and industrial tax level puts Weyburn in the middle of the pack. “That’s something we’re going to have to work on, is getting more commercial properties.”
Coun. Larry Heggs also thanked administration, noting council members had come to them several times in an attempt to trim the budget without reducing any services, and pointed out a number of other communities have been talking about reducing services in order to cut down their budgets.
Coun. John Corrigan noted the budgetary process is a long one, and he thanked everyone who did come out to the open house to talk about what was important to them.
“It influences the decisions we make. Even though we have an increase, due to a number of variables, we’re not cutting services,” he said.
Mayor Marcel Roy pointed out that municipalities used to only have to raise about 20 per cent of their budget from taxes.
“We’re way over that, and we’re still being pushed down. We have a constant erosion by the provincial and federal governments,” he said. “We are doing the best in every department to provide you with good service.”
After the budget was approved by council vote, Mayor Roy noted that the city could now get requests for proposals for their projects out to suppliers and contractors, to start lining them up for 2024, “which gives us a huge jump” on getting infrastructure projects done.
The total budget, for operating and capital spending, is $25,775,275, including $22,234,040 for operating, and $3,541,235 for the capital budget.
Out of this total, Leisure will have a budget of $6,104,055; public works will have $3,648,605; administration and finance will have $3,629,755; police services will have $4,662,600; fire services will have $1,429,575; engineering will have $902,130; parks will have $1,528,510; and planning and development will have $328,810.
• In other council business, Weyburn council passed sending “a letter of non-opposition” to Transport Canada, in support of the proposed helipad for the new Weyburn hospital currently under construction on Fifth Avenue North.
An open house was held on the proposed heliport on Nov. 28, hosted by the hospital Owner’s Representative Team. This included Ground Effects, a heliport specialist; STARS, the primary user of the helipad; the Ministries of Health and SaskBuilds and Procurement; the Saskatchewan Health Authority; and the contractor, Wright Construction.
• City manager Mathew Warren announced that this was city clerk Donette Richter’s last council meeting, as she will be retiring at the end of the year, ending a 30-year career with the city, the last 17 years as city clerk.
Warren praised her hard work and professionalism, including her leadership in running the municipal elections for the city.
“It’s been a privilege to work here,” said Richter, noting she began in 1989 in a casual position. She worked in a number of departments, including finance, recreation, building and engineering.
She worked from 1989 to 1993, took a hiatus and was back in 1997 in the finance department, then in 2006 took over as city clerk when Cheryl Rommann retired. She had been invited by then-city manager Bob Smith to take on this position.
In her time, she’s worked with three mayors and several councillors, worked in five elections and two byelections, as well as during the 2011 flood, the building of the public works shop and fire hall, and the CU Spark Centre.
“I’ve met premiers, leaders of the opposition, even a couple of celebrities,” she said. “It’s been a pleasure working here.”
