The 2018 operational budget for the Town of Canmore includes an already approved 3.7 per cent municipal tax increase and it looks like that’s going to remain unchanged after council briefly deliberated alterations to it this month.
Council held two (publicly advertised) finance committee meetings in November, during which it heard updates to all utility rate models, as well as a general overview of its 2018 operating and capital budgets and changes to them proposed by administration.
Council approved both budgets last December as part of a multi-year approval process, including the 3.7 per cent municipal tax increase expected.
Mayor John Borrowman told the budget committee all changes being considered result in a net zero change to the approved budget’s overall financial implications.
“Right now this is a net zero change, as there are additions and decreases that would support the same amounts we approved last year,” he said. “If council at this time would like to see taxes reduced, one way to do that is to not support something (in this budget).”
The approved 2018 budget includes revenues of $49.6 million – with about $23 million coming from taxes and $19.7 million from sales and rentals – including utilities and solid waste services. The expenditures show $16.9 million in salaries wages and benefits, $12.7 million in contracted services, $3.5 million in supplies and energy, $3.3 million in borrowing costs and $1.5 million in funding for affiliated organizations such as the library, artsPlace and museum.
Administration recommended changes to the budget that were considered extraordinary in nature, said manager of financial services Katherine Van Keimpema.
That includes an overall change in funding for Bow Valley Regional Transit Commission’s Roam Transit service – a $20,000 savings in administration fees, a $21,000 savings for providing winter maintenance of bus stops in house, and an increase in $149,000 for local transit.
“Current ridership trends are significantly lower than estimated (Canmore local), as well as increased maintenance and insurance costs,” she said, regarding the increased overall budget.
There was also $17,500 increase to include On-It transit operation expenses for the 2018 season.
The changes to transit would also result in an employee change, as one part time position in streets and roads would be changed to full time to maintain transit stops.
There is an expected $180,000 increase in franchise fees from ATCO, and $135,000 from Fortis, but the latter is dedicated to a reserve and does not affect the overall operating budget.
A new event coming to Canmore, Rogers Hometown Hockey, has budget implications for the events department, according to Van Keimpema. The event is coming to Canmore in February, and she said the costs associated with hosting are being funded through the annual winter carnival budget.
“As we remove items from the budget for the winter carnival, the service decreases, including less elaborate ice carvings, no demonstrations and less participants,” she said.
The required services include overnight security for $2,000 and an operations coordinator for $3,600. In total, the change results in $7,600 in budget changes within the department, and what doesn’t come from the carnival is transferred from the economic development reserve.
That reserve is used to fund special events, said general manager of municipal services Sally Caudill, so it is an appropriate funding source.
Caudill went on to note that while there are changes to the winter carnival budget, there have been changes to the event over the past several years that cannot be ignored.
“To be completely honest, I think we need to start having a winter carnival that acknowledges climate change exists,” she said. “Depending on the weather, sometime the ice is melted within two days … for me, it is starting to feel impractical and not necessarily all that significant a part of the winter carnival event.”
Further operational budget changes include reduced credit card servicing fees at Elevation Place for a $10,000 savings, custodial contract savings of $15,000, and increased software licencing fees of $22,500.
“No surprise here, our legal fees have been a little bit busier than we anticipated and we expect 2018 to proceed in the same vein,” Van Keimpema said.
The total cost for legal fees in 2017 so far, she said, is $120,000 – which is more than budgeted originally. The additional budget for 2018 was $75,000.
There is also an additional $40,000 for third party reviews of environmental impact statements.
Overall, Van Keimpema said, the increases and decreases result in a net zero change to the operating budget totals approved last year.
