Town residents are looking at a tax increase of 5.3 per cent after town councillors approved the 2014 budget last week.
The total 2014 budget is $22.2 million with $15.2 million for operations and $7 million for capital expenses.
Acting CAO Betty Quinlan told councillors April 8 that the increase provides an additional $449,000 in tax revenue with municipal taxes increasing to $5.3 million.
A home assessed at $300,000 should expect to see an increase of $99, explained Quinlan. She said this will be offset somewhat with drops in the Rimoka Housing Foundation and school requisitions. The difference makes a homeowner pay $57 for a $300,000 home.
“Our requisitions went down, which is good. They went down by about $92,000,” said Quinlan.
The commercial sector will see a 5 per cent increase, approximately $124 per $300,000 of assessment.
The school requisition dropped by $87,000 to $2.043 million and Rimoka’s dropped by $5,400 to $84,000. The Town of Ponoka’s total property tax levy is $7.4 million.
Residential taxes make up 80 per cent of the town’s assessment, with the other 20 per cent coming from commercial and non-residential.
Since council passed the interim budget, changes have been made to meet growing needs of the town.
• $95,000 has been added to the North Bridge, which is said to need replacement in two years.
• The town is pitching in to support the school resource officer position at Wolf Creek Schools with $12,000 for last quarter. Quinlan says they will adjust the 2015 budget to help pay for the position.
• $150,000 has been put into common reserves in the event the organizational review, currently underway, sees the town needs more employees. “If we need to hire anymore staff, then we’ve got some funding available,” said Quinlan.
• $50,000 has been added to conduct an Asset Management Lifecycle Plan for operations and property services, which will be a tool in the town’s 10 year capital plan.
Dave McPhee, director of operations and property services for the Town of Ponoka, will be able to use the plan to give staff a better understanding of the town’s assets and when replacement or repair is needed.
Coun. Marc Yaworski feels $50,000 for the asset management plan is a good idea. “The money over the next 10 years that it’s going to save us, it’s a great investment.”
Coun. Carla Prediger wanted to know how Ponoka’s taxes compared to other towns. Quinlan replied that Ponoka has typically been lower than similar communities.
“This year we have gone with a slightly larger tax increase and part of it is to try gain parity with our counterparts,” said Quinlan.
Comparing to 2013
The residential mill rate increased to 6.5 in 2014, up from 6.2 in 2013. The commercial mill rate increased to 8.7 in 2014 compared to 8.2 in 2013. Residents saw a tax increase of 2.4 per cent in 2013.