As it turns out, some people were not happy with Estevan city council’s decision to hold the line on a property tax increase this year.
City council passed the city’s 2019 budget during its meeting on Monday night. Council members shared the feedback they have received on the document, and most of them said they have heard comments from a few ratepayers about their preference to have a property tax increase each year.
This year’s budget doesn’t include a property tax increase or a utility rate increase, the first time in many years that neither rate has gone up. While the city did not receive many written submissions, city management and council members did have people approach them about the financial plan.
“We did have some feedback, and we thank everybody who gave it to us,” said Mayor Roy Ludwig.
City manager Jeff Ward said he had one person approach him to say that property taxes should go up. That person also wanted clarification on the future of the police station. The budget calls for $500,000 for Phase 1 of an expansion to the police station, rather than construction of a new police building.
Mayor Roy Ludwig said that he and city treasurer Trudy Firth met with one person, and it was a good discussion. He knew of one written submission.
Councillors Travis Frank and Trevor Knibbs both pointed out that the people they talked to wanted to see some form of a property tax increase.
“I had a few people mention that no tax increase seems like a poor choice, which is the opposite of what you might expect, but it’s nice to hear that people understand the value of them,” said Frank.
At the same time, council is happy they won’t have to impose a tax increase this year, Frank said.
Knibbs added that people were wondering if the city was going back to its old ways, which would see the council avoid annual property tax increases, but then have a significant rate increase when work needed to be done.
Ludwig said that’s a valid point.
“Unless the government changes something that we don’t foresee, there shouldn’t be any big ones,” Knibbs said.
Those people would rather see a small increase each year, than to have no increases this year, and then an eight or nine per cent hike next year.
Knibbs noted he didn’t receive any phone calls from people thanking council for not imposing a tax increase.
“Hopefully most of the heavy lifting now has been done, and any increases moving forward will be incremental,” said Ludwig.
Veroba also heard that some people are not in favour of the proposed splash park at Centennial Park. Some believe that the two splash parks in Estevan are enough, while others would rather see the money put towards the construction of a new outdoor swimming pool.
Frank believes some of the opposition to the splash parks might stem from when the splash parks had to be shut down for repairs or replacement.
The budget was released for public comment in January.
Ward said last month that the city decided to hold the line on property taxes this year because some ratepayers were hit hard, especially commercial properties, during the most recent provincial reassessment.
The city also wants to see what happens with oil prices, the equivalency agreement between the provincial and federal governments, and the upcoming federal election.
Along with Phase 1 of the expansion to the police station, other highlights of this year’s budget are renovations for the Estevan Leisure Centre, with upgrades to the roof and the rooftop heating, ventilation and air conditioning units.
There will also be about $250,000 for the Power Dodge Ice Centre.
The water main replacement program will also resume, with work taking place on part of Veterans Crescent.
The budget also calls for more than $4.3 million in debt principal to be paid down this year, and another $877,685 in interest. That would leave the balance at the end of the year at $23.7 million, but the city also plans to borrow $2 million for some of the costly capital projects.
