Chestermere’s Mayor Marshall Chalmers showcased the strides city council has made this past year to bring stability back to the community during the annual Mayor’s Breakfast Nov. 22 at the Lakeside Golf Club.
One of the points of discussion on the agenda was to update residents on the resolution of the Chestermere Utilities Incorporated (CUI) issue.
“In the coming months, CUI will be coming back under municipal management, we have a lot of pieces of the puzzle to fit together,” Chalmers said.
He added, “The entire city council was appointed to the board, to have a better oversight.”
Recently, Chestermere City Council decided the services of the CUI CEO were no longer be needed, and an experienced Interim CEO was brought in to act as the transition manager.
“We will find efficiencies, we will improve customer service, and we aim to lower our utility rates.
“The community asked that the new council address the high rate increases in utilities, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” said Chalmers.
“For now, know that change is happening, and stability is coming. We heard you loud and clear Chestermere and we are making it happen,” he said.
Chalmers stated that council has taken their time to understand the complexities of CUI, before finding the best path to move forward in order to deliver affordable and sustainable utility rates.
CUI was not the municipalities only concern this year.
Chestermere City Council knew that families in the community were feeling the burn of municipal taxes and they needed relief.
“We have concluded our council 2019 budget deliberations and the budget efforts are resulting in a tax decrease,” Chalmers said.
He added, there will likely be a two per cent tax decrease for 2019.
“Council has to pass the final budget in December, so there may still be a few variations, but I’m very pleased to tell you that we are making progress in bringing stability,” he said.
Announcing the tax decrease is significant, Chalmers added, Chestermere City Council hunkered down, asked for changes which resulted in the tax decrease.
“I bet you, you won’t see a community in Alberta that does this,” Chalmers said.
Going forward, council is continuing its work on finding the best path forward around delivering services with CUI.
“We’re not there yet. There’s a lot of work around that,” Chalmers said.
He added, the next step is to finalize the budget, and then to review, change, and enhance antiquated policies that guide the community.
“We need to get our teeth into those,” Chalmers said.
He added, “We got many other good things on the go, all of the development, there’s a lot going on.”
“I’m very appreciative and always encourage our community to support our local business, if at all possible, please support locally and that speaks to our chamber.”
