Kevin Hanson – Division 1
Quick Bits
Council approved changing the member composition of the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board to nine Members at Large only. As a result, Council will no longer participate in the SDAB, beyond selecting the Members at Large.
Bragg Creek Utilities Mandatory Connection Extension
Based on guidance from Administration and communication with residents, I brought forward a Notice of Motion extending the deadline for mandatory lot connection from 2020 to 2030. It also directed Administration to continue to work with the unconnected lot owners to move them into compliance as soon as possible. Clr. Schule, who represents our Langdon Hamlet, seconded my motion, but was unable to attend the meeting where the motion was debated.
Unfortunately, I was unable to convince my Colleagues that the benefits of taking a gentler approach to seeking compliance was superior to a heavy-handed approach for the 13 remaining unconnected lots. My main argumentation was that:
a) There was no known or suspected immediate risk to environmental
and human health or immediate detrimental impact to the community and surrounding properties.
b) The capital costs of the utility are funded by a Local Improvement Tax – which unconnected lot owners are already paying.
c) The incremental operating revenues received from the 13 new users on the system (some of whom have very low consumption rates), may never cover the administrative and legal costs to force compliance – which indirectly increases subsidization of the utility.
d) The long-term reputational risk associated with a less collaborative approach should be considered for broader negative impacts, as Administration had outlined in their report.
I will continue to work with Administration as they follow Council’s direction to enforce the 2017 bylaw – by the letter of the law.
Spring Budget Adjustment and 2024 Tax Finalization
Administration consistently recommended a 3% tax increase as Council worked through the 2024 budgeting process. This was reflected in the approved 2024 RVC operations budget last December. We continue to grow significantly, putting upwards pressure on providing services to that increasing assessment base. The approved 2024 budget basically held spending to an inflationary increase. Significant effort was made by Administration over the past 18 months to increase efficiencies – which helped offset growth-related operating cost increases.
In stark contrast to rural municipalities who rely heavily on the resource extraction sectors for municipal taxes, our economic diversification puts us in a unique position. This is not taken for granted, and typically RVC purposefully uses a fiscally conservative approach.
As with 2022, 2023 saw higher than forecast growth. New-Growth revenue was $9.2M actual vs. estimated $2.0M. This was largely due to very strong commercial-industrial sector. Great
news as it accelerates the strategic goal of a 65%/35% residential-to-commercial assessment split ratio by 2035 – Council’s Policy C-197.
To finalize the budget and enable calculating the 2024 “mill rate”, Administration presented 13 final revenue and cost items for consideration, reducing net surplus by $500K. Two new spend items targeted evolving pinch points – salary equity in the region, and critical service levels related to growth pressures. For details see agenda item F-5 Attachment ‘A’: https://pub-rockyview.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=13014
In that document, Administration recommended proceeding with the planned tax increase of 3.0% and transferring remaining surplus of $8.6M to the Tax Stabilization Reserve. This could provide funding for future projects and/or service level adjustments, once the full impact of the unprecedented growth spurt of the past 2-years is better understood.
Council considered that, and with much debate, approved as part of budget finalization:
- A net budget adjustment to reduce the estimated tax increase from 3% to 0%.
- Utility rate increases for water and wastewater services of 3%.
And provided further direction on:
- Placing the Platoon Captain pilot program on hold until the 2024 Fire Master Plan is presented to Council.
- Delivering by end of June, an administrative report estimating the cost of increasing the County-paid portion of employee benefits to 100 per cent, and potential this has to address staff retention.
The result of the finalization is that Administration will provide a new net amount to be transferred to the Tax Stabilization Reserve, and an amendment to the just-approved master rates bylaw will have to be made for the utility rate change.
Contact: KRHanson@RockyView.ca or call 403.463.1166.
