City of Chestermere administration presented a draft of the 2020 budget to council, which includes a two per cent property tax decrease.
During the Nov. 12 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Chief Administrative Officer, Bernie Morton, and the Chief Financial Officer Brenda Hewko presented the draft operating and capital budget for the upcoming year.
“Council has to absorb that, we have a special meeting on Tuesday, council is set to then deliberate on the budget that’s been presented,” said Mayor Marshall Chalmers.
This would be the third year of reductions if the budget is approved by city council, said a City of Chestermere Press Release.
Adding, the previous council had approved a two per cent tax increase for 2018, while the current council reduced that, and then approved a two per cent tax cut for the 2019 budget.
“Our Administration understands that our residents are facing challenging economic circumstances, and they have drafted a budget that reflects that reality,” Chalmers said.
“While we still need to dig through every detail of the proposed budget, we are eager to find savings and efficiencies for our community. Last year, we were the only municipality we know of to pursue a tax cut, and we have every intention of cutting taxes again this year,” he added.
To achieve recurring tax decreases, city administration reviewed numerous expenditures, found efficiencies, and updated the budget process to use historical spending trends.
The proposed budget will include identifying activities that were possibly taxed the year prior to ensure they are not taxed again, breaking silos and encouraging collaboration, projecting growth, and determining if patterns exist by reviewing and analyzing historical spending.
Items for consideration were also presented to council, such as a request from the Chestermere Public Library for an increase to the current grant, exploring the possible purchase of the Chestermere Recreation Centre lands, and consideration to suspend the Financial Policy of setting funds aside for 2020.
“We’re excited to have the opportunity to bring another two per cent tax cut as presented. There are areas that are still for consideration, and depending on that deliberation, it will depend on where we land,” Chalmers said.
Adding, “Clearly administration has done an enormous amount of work to get us to this point.”
The final budget is expected to be approved in December.
For budget meeting schedules, please visit the City of Chestermere website at www.chestermere.ca/budget.
