Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
Kindersley council has adopted the town’s 2018 budget and the expenditures include three major capital projects including the aquatics centre.
The Town of Kindersley adopted a total budget of more than $23.1 million at a special meeting of council held on May 7 at 8:30 a.m. It contains nearly $11.5 million in capital expenditures with the aquatics centre, fire hall and landfill projects all planned for 2018.
Two of the large capital projects, the aquatics centre and landfill, started in 2017 and are scheduled for completion in 2018. Ground has not been broken yet for the fire hall project and it is also planned for completion this year.
Council adopted the budget but the town has not set the mill rate, mill rate factors and base taxes for 2018. There are still two regular council meetings to go in May, so the town’s rates are expected to be adopted later this month. Tax notices will go out after the rates have been adopted for 2018.
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The 2018 budget of $23.1 million is less than the forecasted $25.6 million in 2017, but the town did not realize all of its planned expenditures in 2017. According to the town, the actual budget was only slightly more than $13.2 million.
A press release from the town states that the aquatic centre represents $5.1 million of the 2018 budget. The fire hall and regional landfill represent nearly $3 million, so the larger capital projects represent $8 million.
The town is investing more than $1.3 million in its road infrastructure this year, and more than $1.4 million is being spent on utilities projects. More than $9 million is going to be spent in recreation – the most of any department – with the aquatic centre representing more than half of the expense.
There is a difference of $6 million between expenditures and revenues. The budget estimates slightly more than $17.1 million in revenue for 2018, and the municipal tax levy represents the largest revenue stream at $7.2 million.
The town will access nearly $2 million in reserves in 2018. Documents show the town had more than $10.5 million in reserves to end 2017, but the reserves are projected to be more than $8.5 million at the end of 2018. The town will also spend more than $1 million in loan repayments, the release states.
Council has adopted budgets in principle near the end of previous budget years, but that did not happen prior to 2018. Mayor Rod Perkins said on Monday that town officials have worked hard to prepare a budget that will have a minimal impact on citizens.
“I think we’ve been over this many times,” the mayor said, recognizing that town officials have been meeting to discuss and prepare the budget for the past several months. “We have no tax increases planned in this budget.”
Audrey Hebert, the town’s director of corporate services, said she has gone through the budget several times with council and a lot of changes were made along the way. The 2018 budget projects a surplus of nearly $319,000 after transfers and loans, she added. The town had a surplus of nearly $752,000 from 2017 after transfers and loans.
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