2022 Final Operating and Capital Budgets

Council has adjusted the 2022 Capital and Operating Budgets. The Final Budgets were passed at Tuesday’s Council Meeting and use a 5.22% tax increase. This is up 0.32% from the Interim Budget in December.

The total Operating expenditures are $24,817,662, and total taxation to be generated is $11,996,736.

About 2.60% of that increase is to offset the COVID recovery plan, which included a taxation decrease in the 2020 emergency budget. This change will reduce the 5-6 year COVID recovery plan to 2 years. It also decreases the total amount of reserves required to offset taxes, improving the Town’s financial position and ability to respond to future challenges and new priorities.

Council and Administration recognize the immense pressures being felt by the public at this time and have worked hard to balance the need to keep costs to a minimum with the challenges faced by all departments with external pressures. Inflationary pressures make up a large portion of the taxation increase, with about 2% going to increased electricity costs alone.

With the taxation set, Council has also passed the 2022 Mill Rate Bylaw. The Town of Edson’s overall taxable assessment has increased by 2.39%. This is used to generate the taxation revenue and is what drives the mill rate calculations for Municipal taxes, School, and Evergreens Requisitions. This has led to a slight increase in the municipal residential and non-residential mill rates.

2022 Residential Mill rates:

               Municipal mill rate – 6.3126 mills (2021 mill rate – 6.0950 mills)
               Evergreens Foundation mill rate – 0.5195 mills (2021 mill rate – 0.4531 mills)
               School mill rate - 2.6631 mills (2021 mill rate – 2.6854 mills)
               2022 Total Combined mill rate – 9.4952 mills (2021 mill rate – 9.2335 mills)

2022 Non-residential Mill rates:

               Municipal mill rate – 15.2443 mills (2021 mill rate – 14.9624 mills)
               Evergreens Foundation mill rate – 0.5195 mills (2021 mill rate – 0.4531 mills)
               School mill rate - 3.8880 mills (2021 mill rate – 4.0157 mills)
              2022 Total Combined mill rate – 19.6518 mills (2021 mill rate – 19.4312 mills)

Capital Budget

Council has also approved the 2022 Revised Capital Budget. The budget includes a few carry-over projects from 2021, as well as Vision Park diamond and playground upgrades, Glenwood Park upgrades, and a number of other large projects highlighted below.

• $20,000,000 in grant funding towards the Multi Use Facility
• $2,200,000 towards the Infrastructure Rehabilitation Program
• $2,038,000 for work around Wase Creek
• $100,000 for highway crossing lights
• $415,000 for Civic Centre Boiler/LED lighting - $350,000 covered by grants

The total Capital Budget amounts to $32,166,192, funded 21.3% from reserves, 0.5% from cost-sharing, and 78.2% from grants.

For more details on the 2022 Budget, and the full list of capital projects, please visit www.edson.ca/budget.

Fee Changes

Council has also approved some changes to the Fees, Rates, and Charges Bylaw. A partial review of rates was completed, including comparisons to other municipalities and industry averages to ensure a fair and principled approach. A more comprehensive review is planned prior to the 2023 budget process. The aim is to also to move towards cost recovery in some areas.

As such, Council has approved the following changes:

• Utilities
  Water increase of $0.16/m2 to $1.47
  Sewer increase of $0.01/m2 to $1.51
  
  
• Landfill
  Construction/Demo Materials – from $30 to $50/tonne
  Wet Waste – from $0.21/kg to $0.25/kg
  Weigh Scale Fee of $20
  Minimum charge – from $5 to $10

Other changes include adjustments to development fees, as well as airport and cemetery fees. The full bylaw can be found at www.edson.ca/bylaws.