Bridge Over Not-So-Troubled Waters

I was very pleased to see that Beiseker Public Works arranged to have the bridge over the drainage canal between downtown Beiseker and Beacon Heights repaired! 

The rebuild reinforced the handrails, and provided proper entrance ramps on each side.  I think it dramatically improved the look of the bridge, too!   I'm hoping that we can find the funds in our tight budget to rebuild the third bridge, down by the Public Works Yard.

Taxation: Municipal Budgeting

Step two in the taxation process is building a budget. 

Each municipality must go over their spending in each and every department during the previous year, then decide how much money that municipality will need to operate for the upcoming year.  The budgeting process begins in the fall of each year.

Most larger municipalities finalize their budgets close to the beginning of the calendar year, but many smaller ones finalize theirs in late spring.  For those who wait until spring, they must create and authorize an "Interim Budget," which is basically just an extension of last year's budget.

Provincial law mandates that municipalities must not operate with a deficit budget - so councils and administration staff  must work hard to "balance the budget" each year before in can be approved.

Smaller communities like ours must run a very tight ship.  We must provide our citizens with everything a larger municipality does, but with far fewer people to "pay the bills!"   Citizens of Beiseker still require streets and sidewalks, street lights, water & sewer services, playgrounds, recreation & cultural facilities, and fire protection, along with a host of other services -- but our tax base is much smaller than a city!

For example, an arena in a city must serve (and be paid for by) at least 20,000 taxpayers.  A small town arena may only serve fewer than 2000 people.  Yet both buildings must be built, maintained, and operated in a similar manner.  Beiseker is very fortunate that our Ag Society has taken on the task of managing our arena, here!

After the budget has been created and approved by the elected council, it's time to set the mill rate.

Questions for the Candidates: Tangible Capital Assets

Today, I have a question for the provincial candidates in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills about Tangible Capital Assets! 

For the last few years, Alberta municipalities have had to include a list of all their Tangible Capital Assets (TCAs) and the depreciation of those assets when building next year's budget.  For large municipalities, this isn't a hardship - but for smaller ones it can really hurt.

Let's say a town of 1500 Albertans wants a new public building.  They are given a provincial grant to build a multi-million dollar facility in their town.  That building must now be listed as a capital asset - and its depreciation calculated into the town's budgeting process.

According to the Municipal Government Act, the municipality cannot operate with a deficit budget, so they may have to raise taxes considerably to cover that amount - even though they didn't fund the project in the first place!  Smaller municipalities, like Beiseker, are the most vulnerable.

Question #2;  If elected as a government, will your party address this serious error in calculating a municipality's property taxes and financial status - and remove the TCA depreciation from the mix?

Village Councilors' Expense Claims

At last Monday's Council Meeting, I made another proposal with a view of saving money on the village budget. 

This time, I proposed that we reduce the amount slated for councilors expense claims.  As you may know, prior to the 2013 municipal election a committee was created - totally separate from council - to review and recommend changes to the expense claim amounts.  After that election, the newly elected council accepted and passed the new schedule designed by that committee.

It significantly raised councilors' fees.  In fact, that budget line in our books more than doubled in 2014, over what it was in 2013! 

I am suggesting that we take another look at those new figures for expense claims and possibly reduce them during these "belt tightening times."  They could be raised back to their current amounts in the future, when councilors feel the Village coffers could better could afford it.  What do you think?

No Help from the Province

We had an inter-municipal meeting in Acme the other evening.  We talked blizzards and snow removal for quite a while.

It appears that most communities in this area, including Beiseker, have spent between $8,000 and $20,000 moving snow so far, this winter!  This is a big hit on the budgets of small municipalities like ours. 

I've had our Village Administrator check out to see if we could apply for emergency or disaster funding from the province.  I realize that our expenditures for snow removal pale by comparison to the flood damage in many Alberta municipalities, last spring.  However, these expenses come at us totally unexpected, and have stretched our snow budgets to the breaking point.

But the answer from the province was a flat "no."

I see no choice for all the small municipalities to either cut other services or raise taxes (or maybe both) to accommodate these huge increases in snow removal budgets.

I believe that the province should be helping its municipalities cope with these "snow emergencies," as much as possible.  The premier's travel expenses and the bureaucrats' salaries show me that they have (or maybe had) the money!

Village Updates: Sewer Lines and Snow

Sewer lines and snow removal were just two of the topics we talked about at last Monday's Council Meeting.  It was that morning that Premier Redford enacted the writ and called an election for April 23.  Mayor Rowe was obliged to ask for a leave of absence while he campaigns for that election.  I am now Acting Mayor until April 23. 

• Sewage:  Good news, our Public Works foreman reported that the revised pumping system at the sewage lift station (behind the seed cleaning plant) was installed and is working perfectly!  We also learned that the village has received a grant to twin the sewage force main from the lift station to our lagoon system on the east side of Highway 9.  Both of those things will help prevent sewage back-ups at the lift station during high water flow events.
• Snow Removal: Council also passed a bylaw that will permit the village to shovel off snow covered walks if the resident of the adjoining property hasn't done so within 48 hours of the end of the snowfall.  The cost of the snow clearing would then be assigned to the property owner.  It was passed unanimously.
• Water Truck Repairs:  Public Works repaired and cleaned up the old truck they use to water the trees and flowers throughout the village each summer.  The old truck looks much improved.
• Sidewalk Replacement:  Council started discussions with Public Works on which sidewalks in the village need replacement.  If you have any ideas on this subject please contact me through this blog or phone the Village Office at 403-947-3774.  Remember we only have a small budget to work with and we would like to avoid a local improvement!
• Census Shock:  We were very surprised to find out that the Federal Government has declared that the Village of Beiseker has actually lost citizens since the last census in 2006, dropping from 804 to 785.  This will cost the Village when we apply for "per-capita grants"!  But it will also save us money when we have to pay for a service based on our population.
• Water Meter Installation:  The installation program for our new water meters is winding down.  These new meters should help us account for most of the water we buy from Aqua 7.  Something I found most shocking was that some of the old meters had been bypassed by the property owners!  That means that property would have been only paying the minimum amount for their water!  In my mind that's theft!  I don't know who the culprits were and I don't want to know, but the new meters are tamper proof!
• Budget Talks:  The water loss problem will the biggest hurdle for council while they prepare the 2012 budget.  Tens of thousands of dollars worth of water was not accounted for.  The Village bought the water but did not sell it!  Paying for that lost water is going to impact our 2012 budget.  Stay tuned.