Happy New Year!

Here we are on the second day of 2017!  How's it going for you so far? 

As of yesterday morning we've all started paying the NDP carbon levy.  According to my unscientific calculations, it could cost us living in rural Alberta over $100 a month extra!  I'm looking forward to applying for the rebate.  I expect that most rural Albertans will be eligible for a full rebate, after all we do not have the luxury of public transit and services "around the corner"!  We have to use our vehicles to get around!

Next year at this time it will be interesting to hear our Premier's  report as to the success of the new sales tax on fuel in the province.  I wonder if she'll mention the following;

• Most of the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere comes from volcanoes which are exempt from the NDP tax.
• Alberta is responsible for less than 2% of the man-made carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
• There is no suitable replacement available for fossil fuels, and likely won't be for many years to come.
• The simplest and easiest carbon dioxide recovery system are plants, especially trees!
• More and more states in the world are giving up on carbon taxes in favor of other more sensible ways of curbing carbon dioxide emissions or recovering carbon dioxide..

This year will  be an interesting year in Alberta.  Happy New Year!

Tragic Death of Jim Prentice

I was totally shocked when I heard that former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice was killed in a plane crash last night near Kelowna, B.C. 

I was a big supporter of Premier Prentice.  I had the opportunity to talk to him on a couple of occasions, and I was impressed with his ability to see a reasonable compromise between groups that seemed otherwise at loggerheads.  I truly believe he would have become one of Alberta's best premiers ever, had he won the last election. 

That loss really hurt Jim and he dropped out of the political fray for a long time.  He was enjoying his private life and his family now he was semi-retired. 

My sincere condolences to his family and many friends both here in Alberta and in Ottawa.

Little Things

It's the little things in life that make me smile...or frown.  Here are a few.

I smiled when I read stories about Syrian refugees learning to be Canadians.  They're going to the Stampede, they're learning about Canadian football, they're learning to skate.  They're taking English classes.  They're working hard to become Canadians, like the rest of us had to do when we (or our ancestors) came to this, the greatest country on Earth!

I smiled when I see folks dressed in green and wearing watermelons on their heads or with red painted faces with a galloping horse on it heading for a Canadian football game.  That's what I call Fan Loyalty.  Fantastic!

I smiled when I see young kids experimenting and playing with scientific apparatus at the annual Beakerhead Festival in Calgary.  The only way you can engage our highly talented group of youngsters with science is to show them it can be a lot of fun!

I smiled when I heard that Airdrie's Urgent Care facility will operate 24 hours a day hopefully after the end of September.  In my opinion, having that clinic close each night at 10:00 p.m. was pretty ludicrous, considering Airdrie now has a population of more than 60,000!  I'm hoping this will be the first step in Airdrie getting its much needed hospital!

I frowned when I read that two students enrolled in an openly non-denominational school demanded to have a place and be able to pray during school hours.  The school advertises that it is openly non-denominational and discourages any outward display of any religion because it wants its students to concentrate on their studies during school hours.  The students won the right to pray in that school.

I frowned when I heard that the old Rafter Six Lodge was demolished a few days ago.  Parts of the lodge were probably less than 50 years old but it was a beautiful structure reminiscent of the old log structures built here over a hundred years ago.  I assume the new owners had no idea of its historical and cultural value.

I frowned when I heard that the province was no longer sending out vehicle and drivers' licence renewal notices.  Instead they have allowed the authorities to levy hefty fines for those who didn't renew on time and they have employed an American company to send out telephone robo-calls to remind us!

I frown every time I look out my back window on the huge mess that used to be the Bassano Station.  I frown even deeper when I realize again that there is nothing the village can do to  force the mystic railway museum or Alberta TrailNet to clean up that mess!

Facing Reality on Health Care

There was a piece on last night's TV news about a woman who was appalled that her elderly father, who had recently suffered a heart attack was placed in the hall of the Rockyview Hospital because there were no rooms available at that moment.  The officials she talked to were very sympathetic, but told her that was the norm in Alberta's health care system. 

This problem has existed for a considerable length of time.  While hospitals like Calgary's Rockyview General Hospital haven't been at full capacity for a while now, certain areas do back up.  Those back-ups in some wards require patients to be placed in the hallways until space in a room opens up.

My recent stint (albeit short) in that same Rockyview hospital showed me that the hospital staff are working as hard as they can with the resources they have to give excellent care to all patients.  Unfortunately, their facility frequently lets them down!

I can hear it now:  "Let's all blame Rachel Notley and her NDP government for this major screw-up!"  

Hey, not so fast!

It wasn't the NDP government who closed numerous hospitals around the province.
It wasn't the NDP government who blew up one of the biggest hospital complexes in Alberta!
It wasn't the NDP government who played membership roulette with the Alberta Health Services board,  (Remember the famous "cookie monster," Stephen Duckett?)

The NDP inherited this screw-up from the previous government that was in power for more than 40 years.  What disturbs me is that the present government appears oblivious to the problem!  They talk platitudes and promises, but nothing else happens.

If you've read my blog for any length of time you'll know that I have been vocal about the creation of a full hospital in the city of Airdrie.  Yes, it will be expensive, and,
Yes, the province is in a financial crunch right now; but the health system in Airdrie is only going to get worse!

Let's not blame Premier Notley and her NDP government for this current health mess.  Let's make her government start focussing on solutions to these problems before it's too late!

A Greener Alberta?

We are being inundated by adds from the provincial government telling us that we can look forward to a greener, more diversified Alberta economy with the Climate Leadership Plan.  They show us pictures of wind powered generators, solar panels, and hydroelectric facilities. 

They seem to have forgotten one of Alberta's biggest sources of energy; oil and natural gas.  What is our government doing to help the petroleum industry find ways to make their products greener?  I know for a fact that such research and development exists, where is our government on this? 

With these huge oil, coal, and gas reserves in Alberta, it would seem logical that the Alberta government be encouraging and financing research to find ways to make those products environmentally friendly.

Their biggest contribution appears to be their new Carbon Levy which, in my opinion, discourages any research into making petroleum greener.  It instead encourages us to buy less petroleum products to avoid the tax.  I'm having a problem seeing the logic here.

Does our new NDP government expect the big oil companies to shut down oil production and start building windmills?

So Many Projects, So Little Funding!

Village councilors, key village staff members, and our engineers met together last week to discuss priorities and our project plans.

It became very obvious, very quickly that the number and costs of projects outnumbered the funds available.

Funding for the upgrading of village projects, facilities and infrastructure comes from three main sources; property taxes, provincial grants, and federal grants.

Provincial Municipal Sustainability Initiative grants for 2014 have now been received. Last year's MSI grants for 2015 are expected soon. Council's job is to allocate funding for a number of projects within the village.

Here are the projects being considered [in no particular order];

• Upgrading and paving streets, especially those plagued by potholes.
• Replacing deteriorating water lines, and valves.
• Replacing crumbling sanitary sewer lines.
• Replacing crumbling sidewalks, or installing new sidewalks were none exist now.
• The upgrading of village owned facilities such as the playgrounds, the community hall, the fire hall, the arena, the library – play school – community links building, the sewage lagoon, the public works complex, and the Village Office.  (Improvements to some of these facilities such as the fire hall and the arena are accomplished by groups using and operating those facilities. Village Council is hugely grateful for the contribution of those groups, but those facilities are still the property of the village.)
• The construction of a new "Welcome Centre" in Legacy Park. (this is subject to a federal grant application)
• Rebuilding the second block of Main Street from First Avenue to Second Avenue to resemble the first phase between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
• Rebuilding the road bridges over the drainage channel.

We have already approved two projects;  the upgrading of our sewage lagoon system and the replacement of the shingles on the Village Office.

Last week, we created a tentative priority list based on information we had.  We asked our engineers to do a more accurate cost assessment on a couple of  other projects. We're hoping to accept the final priority list at our next Council meeting.

At that time, we also hope to have a couple of "shovel ready" projects on our desk just in case the federal government follows through on its promise to help fund municipal infrastructure upgrades across the country.  Stay tuned.

Passing the Buck(s)

I didn't get the memo! But members of our new provincial government did.  The memo read:

When faced by Alberta municipalities and school boards asking for financial assistance for projects or  programs, respond in the following manner:  " Under the existing law (or model, or guideline, etc.) municipalities (or school boards) are permitted (or can)  to fund enhanced resources (or facility, or program etc.) through their own budgeting process."

Statements like this, with the appropriate words filled in, are being given out to municipalities asking for new health facilities, better provincial roads, better policing, or any other project which could use some provincial funding.

The problem; municipalities don't have those extra funds!   We've got to start working together again to create these projects which, in the long run, will benefit many if not most Albertans!

Good News & Bad News

The good news is that we've hired a new Public Works Foreman for the village. 

The bad news is that we lost a valuable councilor on Village Council.

Councilor Dave McKenzie accepted the position of Public Works foreman - but unfortunately that meant he had to resign as councilor to prevent a conflict of interest.  The provincial Municipal Government Act is very clear on who can be a councilor and who can't.  Dave had been working for the village through a temporary contractual situation, but that ended as soon as we hired him as our new foreman. 

I'll miss Dave on Council.  His perceptions, thoughts and candor were appreciated  and will be greatly missed.  But we now have the opportunity to elect a new councilor in a byelection, coming in early April. 

Good luck Dave!

Boil Water Notice Lifted in Beiseker

As of 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7 our Boil Water Notice for Beiseker has been lifted!  Alberta Health is asking us to flush our own lines before we drink the water.  That simply means we are supposed to run our taps for up to five minutes before we drink. 

We did good.  Our community pulled through and we survived this calamity with flying colours!  Well done Beiseker!  Thanks again for your help and patience.

No Help for Calgary's Snowtember!

Although Beiseker was spared the big snow hit last September which damaged or killed over a million trees in the City of Calgary, I share Mayor Nenshi's frustration with the provincial decision to deny any help for the city.  This could be setting a dangerous precedent! 

Calgary applied for just over $28 million dollars to help with the costs of that terrible storm.  The trees were still in leaf and the weight of that heavy wet snow broke them down by the thousands.  There were major power outages and traffic snarls.  Homes, vehicles and a few people were hit by falling trees and branches.  Many parts of the city's infrastructure was damaged.  Snow-tember adversely affected more of the city than did the floods of 2013!  It was the biggest storm event of its type in over 130 years!

Yet the province has decided that it did not qualify for any kind of disaster relief. 

I worry about this decision.  In my mind this could mean that if an environmental disaster should hit another municipality, that municipality maybe left on its own to solve (and pay for) the problem!  Beiseker is just now starting to rebuild its modest contingency fund after the huge snows of December 2013 and January 2014.  What if another similar incident happens this winter?  Will we be left out in cold to fend for ourselves?  I worry.

Alberta's New Government

Were you shocked by the results of yesterday's provincial election?  I certainly was.

I was predicting a PC win with a smaller majority (around 50 MLAs) with a strong NDP Opposition.  Boy, did I get it wrong!  This is only the second time in Alberta's history that we've elected a left leaning government.

Our first was the Alberta Liberal government in Alberta's infant years as a province, back in 1905.  Ever since the Liberals were voted out in the 1920s, we've always chosen a right leaning government starting with the UFA (United Farmers of Alberta), then Social Credit and onto Peter Lougheed's Progressive Conservatives.  That four decade Progressive Conservative dynasty ended last night.

One politician I lament losing is Jim Prentice.  I realize that some of last night's results were partially of his making, but I believe the man is a true Albertan - and has always had the best interests of this province at heart.

I refuse to blow taps on this province I love.  People are citing NDP screw-ups in other provinces as a prediction of what will happen here.  I disagree.

Alberta is absolutely nothing like the other Canadian provinces which have elected NDP governments.  Our economy is strong here, despite the blip in oil prices.  They'll recover!  They always have.  Alberta's economy is still the envy of the rest of this great nation.

I say: give the Alberta NDP Government a chance.  I'm sure they will work hard to keep Alberta on top!  I believe the sun will continue to shine on this province.  And congratulations to Premier-Elect Rachel Notley!  I'm looking forward to working with you, and your new government, in the near future.

Taxation: Tax Collection

Once the mill rate has been set, the municipality can now prepare and send out its tax notices. 

There is a deadline the municipality must follow in sending out these notices, and a deadline by which those taxes must be paid.  When you receive your tax notice, check carefully to make sure you know what the last possible day is to pay your property taxes. 

Traditionally, municipalities charge huge penalty fees for late paid taxes to encourage folks to pay on time.  This is because the municipality must have the money in the bank when the province comes calling to grab their Education Portion! 

Most municipalities in Alberta have two methods of paying property taxes.  Method One is simply a lump sum payment on or before the tax due date. 

Method Two is much easier in my opinion.  It involves paying monthly instalments throughout the year.  We've been on Method Two for a few years now and it's great!  If you think this might work for you, contact the Beiseker Village Office (403-947-3774) and get the details from them.

If property taxes are unpaid, the municipality has a long and involved procedure to collect them.  The property owner can come into the municipal office and work out a payment plan to cover the amount owing, plus the penalties. 

The municipality also has the right to take the property and sell it to recover those unpaid taxes.  There is a time frame which must be followed.  I believe it's three years.  If the property is seized and sold, the municipality will subtract the amount owing on back taxes with penalties - and then place the remainder of the selling price in the bank. The former owner can apply to have this remainder returned to him.

Municipal Taxation (aka Property Tax) is an important part of keeping our municipalities operating smoothly.  I haven't met one person in my life who looks forward to paying their property taxes!   But almost everyone I meet understands why these taxes are so important to a municipality. 

I hope this series has helped you understand how Municipal Taxation works and why it is so important.

Taxation: Setting the Mill Rate

Step one was the assessment; figuring out how much the entire municipality is worth (the Overall or Total Assessment). 

Step two is building a budget to determine how much the municipality needs to operate for one year.

Step three is setting a mill rate.  Setting the mill rate is really very simple.  All you have to do, is divide what you need into the overall (or total) assessment.  The mill rate is the number of dollars the property owner must pay, per thousand dollars of his property's value, as declared on the assessment.  For example; if a home's assessed value is $200,000 and the mill rate is set at 6.5 mills, the homeowner must pay 200 X 6.5 = $1300 in property tax.

Oops, not so fast!  The provincial government shoves its hand in there, too!  The Ministry of Education tells each municipality how much it will take to pay for education services in the area.  They don't ask, they don't advise, they just tell and take!  Alberta Education simply dips into each municipality's bank account a couple of times a year, and snatches out tens of thousands of dollars each time. 

If a municipality is having difficulty collecting its taxes, this makes the operation of that municipality even harder!  The province takes those funds out - whether or not the municipality has been able to collect them!   If some taxpayers are unable (or unwilling) to pay their taxes, the municipality suffers because it still must make sure it has the money in bank to pay the TOTAL bill for the provincial education portion of the property tax -- even though some of those dollars haven't been collected yet!

When you receive your tax notice, check down to see how much of that is going to the province.  It will be listed there as a mill rate for education.  This is added onto the municipality's mill rate. 

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: Health, Education and Social Services

This last question is about 'HESS.'  In my view, every time our provincial government wants to tighten the belt, they start by reducing funding to Health, Education and Social Services!  Funding for these three areas is hard enough as it is, but tougher times make it almost impossible.

• Plans for new or upgraded health facilities are put on hold or dropped completely.
• Funds to school divisions are frozen or reduced even though student populations are ever-increasing.
• Health workers, social workers and teachers are asked to accept reduced or frozen salaries even though their jobs are becoming more difficult.
• Funding for new neighborhood school construction is years (sometimes decades!) behind the identified need for the facility. 

Question #5:  If your party forms Alberta's next government, how will it maintain needed funding to Health, Education, and Social Services while addressing these tough economic times?

Questions for the Candidates: Heritage Savings Trust Fund

Back more than forty years ago, then-new Progressive Conservative Premier Peter Lougheed created the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.

The fund was designed to be an investment in Alberta's future, and make funds available for those "rainy days" which occasionally strike this province.  I fully supported this fund, but I've never heard a definition of what would qualify as a "rainy day!"  By my calculation, we've had a couple of "rainy days" over the past few years yet I don't believe  the Fund was used to help any Albertans though those rough times.

We've heard the Prentice PCs talk about strengthening the Heritage Trust Fund, but I'd like to know what the other parties would do.

Question #4;  If your party forms Alberta's next government, what are you going to do with our Heritage Trust Fund and who and how will decide how it is spent,and by what criteria? 

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?

Province and Airdrie Making a Great Start

I was very pleased to hear that the City of Airdrie and the Alberta Government have begun the initial steps in providing Airdrie with health care facilities worthy of that fast growing city.  A 24-hour emergency health care facility will be built in Airdrie using public and private money. 

I understand that the building will house 24 hour emergency clinic, doctors' offices, and medical related retail space.  Alberta Health Services will lease or buy one floor for its clinic, while doctors and retail space will occupy the other two floors of the building.   I also know that this whole project has come to fruition thanks to some local businessmen and, in a big part to a generous donation from an unknown benefactor!

This is wonderful news!   This will provide the 50,000-plus Airdrie residents - and the thousands of folks around that city - with a stop-gap facility, until the hospital is built.  

Now I'm hoping to hear soon that a site for the new Airdrie Hospital has been chosen.  I realize the hospital is quite a few years away.  Look at how long it took to create the South Health Campus in Calgary!

But that journey has now begun!  Well done Airdrie!

Our Premier Missed His Chance!

Shortly after the Provincial Budget was tabled in the Legislature yesterday, my son Rhys phoned me and said he thought that Jim Prentice had blown his big chance to put Alberta on a safer financial path.  After going over the details of the budget, I agree with him!

The Alberta Progressive Conservatives had a chance to really set things right in this province, but they wussed out!  They zapped the smokers and the drinkers, which is a usual target when the governments need more cash; the so-called "sin tax."  But then they hit drivers, too!  I think the fuel tax increase will do more harm than good.  Ours is a huge province, with very little public transportation except in the larger cities. 

In my opinion, the fuel tax is just another punishment to Albertans for trying to move around their province for business or pleasure!

The health care surcharge won't even be applied to health care!  What kind of sense is that?  The well-to-do in this province were given a very small increase in their taxes and, from what I can read, the huge rich corporations got off basically scot free!

The ailing Heritage Trust Fund was propped up - instead of being drawn down to almost zero for this definitely "rainy day!"  Alberta's future education and health programs were ignored.  I guess the government expects all those folks moving into booming communities, like Airdrie, to drag their own hospitals, schools, seniors' care centres, and infrastructure in with them.  That, I gotta see!

Diversification was mentioned a few times. We'll have to see what comes of that.

The provincial opposition parties are in total chaos, so the Alberta PCs can't be worried about them, especially with their huge majority.   According to law, the Premier cannot call an election for another year yet. 

So why did he wuss out?  I don't know.

Daylight Savings Woes

Every spring it takes me a little longer to adjust to the loss of an hour when we change over to Daylight Savings Time.  Tack it up to my advanced years.  I hate it!  I am very grumpy while I slowly adjust!   

Not only that, everyone I talk to hates it, too!  I have yet to meet a single person who LIKES Daylight Savings Time!

Many of us are now going to work in the dark, again.  The kids are harder to get to bed. And us older folks find it hard to adjust to it!

If Daylight Savings Time is so universally hated, the why don't they get rid of it?  Wait a minute, we are "they!"  Those who decide this is such a good idea are supposed to be representing us!  Their ultimate bosses are elected by us!  So why don't we get rid of it?

Maybe we and they don't know how to put the bag on Daylight Savings Time!  Then let's ask Saskatchewan for help.  They don't have it, there.  Most of the folks in Saskatchewan seem fairly normal.  They don't appear to be badly maladjusted because they don't turn their clocks ahead every spring  (those who wear watermelons on their heads at certain football games, notwithstanding). 

Let's dump Daylight Savings Time.  My wife would be happier, too!  She wouldn't have to put up with a grumpy old fart every March!