Taxpayers in the Rural Municipality of Weyburn should see a decrease in their tax bills this year, after the RM council ratified their budget for the year at their monthly meeting on Wednesday.
The RM’s mill rate was decreased from 7.1 to 6.8, and in particular, the factor for commercial properties was reduced from 1.25 to 1.15, said Reeve Carmen Sterling, in recognition of the downturn in the economy for oil-related businesses.
“The first thing was, we wanted to recognize what’s been happening out there in the oil sector. A number of our businesses are ag-based or oil-based, so we wanted to bring in a separation from last year,” she said, noting that to lower the mill rate factor for commercial properties is one of the few tools they have to provide a break to the business sector.
“We hope it demonstrates to the business community we appreciate them setting up shop in the RM, and we’re trying to make it more of a fair field for them,” said Reeve Sterling. She noted that the amount a taxpayer’s bill will be affected will depend on whether their assessment had increased for this year or not.
To help offset the lower revenue from taxes, the RM will be transferring $380,000 from reserves.
Capital spending will total $1,047,000, as part of the budget for transportation services, which totals $2,534,850, and there should be a budget surplus of about $8,000. Of this budget, $420,000 will be used towards maintenance gravel to be used throughout the year as it’s needed. The primary capital project will be the sewage receiving station, for which they needed to change locations. The cost of this project is $722,800, of which $228,800 is a grant through the New Building Canada infrastructure grant program.
The RM will be building two and a half miles of road, with two miles in Division 4 in the northeast corner of the RM, plus a half-mile of road near the SaskPower substation just southwest of Weyburn near Prospect Road.
The RM will spend $50,000 on bridge repairs. One of the issues they want to address is how to minimize damages to railings on bridges caused by large farm equipment, without causing damage to the equipment. Coun. Don Bell of Division 6 is working with the manager of public works on a possible solution for this problem, said Reeve Sterling.
For the Airport Road out to North Weyburn, Coun. Ron Fellner has been looking into options to help control the dust on the road, but the company they have been talking to will not be able to address the problem this year.
The budget also includes the normal commitments made by the RM, such as $125,000 each year towards the new acute-care hospital in Weyburn, $2 per capita towards the STARS Air Ambulance (which works out to $2,096), $2,000 to the Nickle Lake Regional Park, a payment to the City of Weyburn for recreation services of $70,000, and $6,000 to the Weyburn Planning Commission in the 50-50 cost-share with the City of Weyburn.
In other RM council business, they discussed what recycling services will be available for RM residents, as the City is looking at bringing a new recycling program.
The RM is also in the midst of negotiations with the City on a fire protection agreement, and they paid $18,864 to ensure the RM is covered for 2016 until a new fire agreement can be settled, said the reeve.
