Council Briefs
Upcoming Public Hearings:
Three public hearings will be held at the regular council meeting on May 24.
The first hearing will address proposed amendments to the tree requirement for single and semi-detached lots. This amendment would require a minimum of one tree in the front of these lots by the time the residential unit is completed.
The next public hearing will address the landscaping requirements for multi-family districts. The amendments would change the tree and shrub requirements per lot as well as the type and amount of landscaping required.
The last hearing will address a proposed amendment to the development authority section of the Cochrane Planning Commission. The amendment would allow the commission to potentially approve or deny the construction of principal buildings taller than five storeys.
2015 Budget Surplus:
Council has moved the 2015 budget surplus of $565,770 to the facility lifecycling reserve. The savings in the reserve will fund capital priorities as outlined in the Ten Year Financial Strategy.
The 2015 budget surplus is attributed to council implementing cost savings in conference and general expenses, increased assessment revenues due to higher than anticipated growth, increased franchise fees due to higher than anticipated growth, and an increase in provincial funding.
Assessment Growth and Property Tax:
Town of Cochrane is looking to reduce its municipal property tax.
Town council initially approved a 0.56 per cent municipal property tax increase in the 2016 budget based off an anticipated six per cent growth in population. Currently the town’s growth rate is at 7.3 per cent, equating to an additional $290,000 in revenue.
The budget also initially anticipated a building permits revenue budget of $470,000, which is now trending toward a $165,000 shortfall due to the economic climate.
At the regular council meeting on April 15, council adjusted the 2016 budget by reducing the building permits revenue budget and revising the net cost of operations.
The remaining additional growth revenue of $125,000 from the $290,000 will be used to reduce the municipal property tax increase to zero per cent. This means the total tax increase from 2014 to 2016 will be 0.4 per cent.
While municipal property tax will decrease, thanks to an education budget increase in the provincial budget and the town’s high growth, Cochrane’s education requisitions increased 15 per cent. Residents can expect an increase of 9.8 per cent in their education taxes as a result since the town’s growth cannot cover the full impact.
This means that since the education portion of the property tax bill is 34 per cent of the total bill, the increase in total property taxes is estimated at three per cent, despite a zero percent municipal increase.
Also announced within the provincial budget, Municipal Affairs will no longer pay the education property tax on properties eligible for grants in lieu of taxes. For Cochrane this means that about $40,000 in education taxes that the province was paying will now be distributed to the rest of Cochrane's assessment base.
More information about municipal and education taxes will be presented to council in the Tax Rate Bylaws at the meeting on May 9.
Ten Year Financial Strategy:
Town council adopted changes to the Ten Year Financial Strategy Capital Projects Summary at the council meeting on April 25.
Council addressed the update to the summary at the previous meeting, which included a summary of $249 million in capital projects from 2016 to 2025.
This update contained an overall increase of $17.4 million. The increase is made up of a transit capital investment increase after confirmation the province will consider a revised GreenTRIP application, an increase for more investment in Connecting Cochrane projects including the Bow River Bridge Crossing and arterial road connections extending to Riviera Way, a Community Revitalization Levy funding reassigned to a future pedestrian rail crossing and other public space improvements within the CRL boundary, and a decrease for the Wastewater capacity upgrade strategy due to a new phased approach.
The Ten Year Financial Strategy Capital Projects Summary will be included in the Council Priorities brochure published at the end of April. It will enable residents to learn more about future Town of Cochrane capital priorities.
