BANFF – Banff property owners can expect to see a 4.93 per cent increase on their overall property tax bill this year.
Following approximately 50 hours of discussion and debate over the last month-and-a-half, council approved its capital and operating budgets on Monday (Jan. 14), but it won’t get a final stamp of approval until the next council meeting on Jan. 28.
Councillors Peter Poole and Ted Christensen unsuccessfully tried to make some budget cuts, including $230,000 for trail lighting and $133,000 for Calgary-Banff summer bus service among other items, but the $44 million budget was approved with a 4.93 per cent increase.
Town of Banff officials say that amounts to an increase of $8.55 a month or $102 a year on a tax bill for an average residential dwelling assessed at $399,200.
“I think the level of service that the people of Banff get for the tax dollars they pay is great value,” said Mayor Karen Sorensen.
“As everyone’s costs increase, so does the Town’s. In addition to that, we are continuing to enhance and provide more service and there’s a cost associated with that.”
This year, $8.3 million will be transferred to capital reserves – the municipality’s savings account for infrastructure projects. There’s $6.4 million in new capital projects for 2019.
Councillor Chip Olver got no support from her fellow councillors to add an additional one per cent tax increase to allow the municipality to put away more money in capital reserves.
A one per cent increase collects another $275,000 in tax revenue.
“Every year there’s new capital requests and I don’t think we are fully accounting for those,” said Coun. Olver. “I think our capital reserves could use a little more influx of dollars.”
The operating budget includes three new staffing positions – two for the bylaw department, which are expected to pay for themselves with increased fine revenue, and one to help with the Town of Banff’s environmental goals to keep waste out of the landfill.
Human-wildlife coexistence is a new focus in this year’s budget following a series of recommendations that came out of the Bow Valley human-wildlife coexistence task force’s report.
New funding includes $67,000 for a communications program on human-wildlife coexistence and a $30,000 study on the Town’s effect on surrounding wildlife corridors.
Council also approved $2,500 to get legal advice on whether or not they can force residents to chop down existing fruit trees, which are known to draw bears into town in search of an easy meal, particularly in fall.
“We have had some failures in the last few years and it would be my intention to reduce conflict – and bear 148 highlighted some of the issues,” said Mayor Sorensen.
Coun. Poole flagged spending on transit and had council agree to a workshop sometime this year to look at successes and value for money for the service being provided, among other things.
He said there is a substantial increase in both capital and operating spending on transit, including a transit hub, transit shelters, transit fleet, increased routes and frequency and shuttles for the Liricon park-and-ride lot.
“The total of those amount to about three per cent of our budget, and I would want us to be conscious of the magnitude of that,” said Coun. Poole.
“If we were over 10 years looking at three per cent a year, we would be creating a 30 per cent increase on overall taxes just on transit issues.”
Water rates are going up 1.9 per cent and sewer rates are going up 6.1 per cent.
