Kevin Hanson – Division 1
Fall Recreation Operating Grants
At this fall’s Recreation Governance Committee meeting the requests for operating grants was over-subscribed for the first time. A bit unusual, but there were a couple big ticket outliers this cycle involving Chestermere recreation. The committee ultimately chose to fund those two requests on a cost-share basis proportional to usage by Rocky View residents. This left a shortfall of $165K, which the committee wanted to support.
This required recommending Council fund the shortfall from the Tax Stabilization reserve. This triggered a short Special Council Meeting being convened 24 hours later – just for this approval. A bit of gymnastics to follow the rules, but worth it to see the programming proceed as requested. Council will re-visit the $150/ household set aside for recreation in the spring budget finalization.
Fire Protection Service Levels
This is top of mind for many for many residents — not only in Division 1, but other Rocky View Divisions as well. In August, RVC Fire Services issued an enforcement order against Westridge Utilities, related to 9 fire hydrants in the Swift Creek Estates community. This order was appealed by Westridge, which was heard on November 18th by the Enforcement Appeal Board. A decision by the Board is still outstanding as of December 15th. Fire protection relies on multiple components: fire station locations, fire apparatus, travel times, staffing levels, water tendering strategy, fire hydrant, and drafting hydrant availability are all relevant. With the appeal still in play, more information must wait for the dust to settle.
Interim 2026 Operating Budget Passed
At the December 5th Special Council Meeting, Council unanimously approved Administration’s recommended Base Operating Budget. This was based on our 2025 spend that adjusts for inflation and “keeps the lights on”. It also includes added expenses for staffing adjustments to keep service levels consistent as the County continues its grow spurt of the past 3-4 years. With estimated $3M assessment growth, there is no proposed tax rate increase at this time — but several capital projects are still under review.
Administration considered resident and developer feedback from both the online survey and outreach this fall. Interestingly, the open forum for this year’s operations budget saw only 1 public submission, given by video. Since this is an opportunity to speak to Council directly, I interpret this as folks are happy with respect to our operations spend and service levels.
Specific departments that bumped their resourcing included:
| Division | FTE Increase | Specific Role(s) | Estimated Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire & Emergency Services | 4.0 | New front-line responders to bolster 24/7 station coverage. | ~$580,000 |
| Operations & Infrastructure | 3.0 | 2 Heavy Duty Mechanics (to reduce contracted fleet costs) and 1 Infrastructure Coordinator. | ~$390,000 |
| Corporate Services | 1.0 | Cybersecurity Specialist (new role to manage digital risk). | ~$145,000 |
| Planning & Development | 1.5 | 1.0 Safety Codes Inspector and 0.5 Development Support (admin). | ~$180,000 |
| Community Services | 10.0 | Parks & Recreation Coordinator (focused on new Langdon and Conrich projects). | ~$125,000 |
| Total Proposed Growth | ~10.5 | ~$1.42 Million |
Interim 2026 Capital Budget Passed
Most of Council’s energy this fall went into discussing a comprehensive 4-year 2026-2029 capital spending plan. Back in my August update, I discussed some of the big-ticket expenses that Council would have to grapple with in the next few years, as our growth continues to “catch up” with us. We face asset maintenance and services expectation issues that urban municipalities in our region also face.
After healthy deliberation at our special meeting for capital budget, Council chose to use the Tax Stabilization Reserve to fund 4 fire truck replacements. Administration gave options to either order new this year, or invest in significant maintenance / rebuilding trying to keep 18–20-year-old apparatus in service, at considerable non- recoverable expense. Buying new is a multi- year endeavor as it takes anywhere from 24 to 54 months from the time of ordering to delivery. A 50% deposit is needed.
Notable 2026 Capital Budget line items for the first year of this multi year plan included:
- Infrastructure: $5.4 million for pavement replacement and $5.2 million for bridges and culverts.
- Emergency Services: $7.0 million for fire truck replacement and $350,000 for FireSmart wildfire risk reduction.
- Water Management: $15.1 million for stormwater infrastructure and $10 million for the Graham Reservoir expansion.
- Prairie Gateway Investment: $12.6 for multiple programme projects. Debt financed as required if provincial/federal granting not available.
At Council’s request, the more complex decisions on the timing of building new fire halls, and recreation facilities will be in the spring, once further CAO workshops related to Fire Services and Recreation Master Plans are conducted.
Total capital approved so far is $62M. For full budget information please see the the December 4th Special Council Meeting Agenda, Attachment A:. Its 12 pages and a good read. You can check out tour brand- new website design at the same time, and offer your feedback…
Contact: KRHanson@RockyView.ca or call 403.463.1166.
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