Cochrane council members are reviewing the 2022-24 draft budget this week after being presented with the 152-page document by administration in a regular meeting Nov. 8.
Members agreed to a motion to receive the draft budget as information and will meet Nov. 15, 22, 23 and 25 in special meetings for further budget review. The regularly scheduled meeting Nov. 22 is cancelled.
Town of Cochrane CAO Mike Derricott said this budget is about right-sizing expenditures to the increasing population.
"This budget was really for us to focus on ensuring that we can appropriately sustain the existing services that support a really high quality of life here in Cochrane," he said. "What we have found over the last number of years is that our internal systems and programs haven't grown or expanded as quickly as the size of the community has."
Derricott added that they want to ensure they can continue providing safe, clear roads, well-kept public spaces and green spaces and prompt, responsible emergency services, which has comes at the cost of higher taxation.
"We've seen Cochrane maintain a profile of high growth with relatively low taxation when we look at comparable communities," he said. "The average tax per capita in comparable communities is around $2,400 and Cochrane is only at about $1,450. What this has done is its started to put a great deal of pressure on a lot of the Town's programs and services."
At this point, administration is proposing a seven per cent tax increase over the next three years, which Derricott said he believes will help put Cochrane more in line with communities with a similar population like Leduc, Okotoks and High River.
"We anticipate that for the average residential property in Cochrane, we're talking about a $13 per month increase in their property taxes," he said. "We feel that's a respectful amount while also being serious and honest about answering the organizational questions we have in front of us."
Administration's last three-year plan draft tried to address concerns over financial shortfalls by proposing a gradual increase of 1.27 per cent increase in 2020, 4.29 per cent in 2022 and 5.71 per cent in 2023. The proposal was shot down by council, instead opting to for no increase.
A more recent item to find its way onto the budget is the twinning of Highway 22 north to Sunset Boulevard as well as widening a stretch of Highway 1A between the Town's 1A improvement project and the Highway 22/1A interchange, both of which the province has recently agreed to undertake as part of the interchange project.
Both areas were project gaps previously identified by the Town that would cost, cumulatively, another $20 million.
Both the town and a private community developer are pledging a financial commitment to the Highway 22 widening up to Sunset Boulevard, which would include the developer funding an upgrade to the intersection of the two roadways through offsite levies. The Town will pay $1.2 million while the developer is expected to add $800,000 to the project.
Other items that will take high priority include a water strategy to address Cochrane's population quickly approaching the town's water rights limit, explained Derricott.
"We currently have water rights for just over 40,000 people and we're swiftly approaching 35,000 people in the community so that's a little close for comfort," he said. "We also know that obtaining water licensing is a process measured more often in years than anything else, so we are actively engaged in progressing and developing a water strategy that will secure necessary water licensing to support the continued growth and evolution of our community."
The 2022 operating budget calls for $32 million, an increase of 9.5 per cent compared to a budget of $29.5 million this year. The draft proposes this will increase to $38.4 million by 2024.
The budget also proposes increases to tax certificate fees, park fees, cemetery fees, water and wastewater base and consumption rates, waste and recycling collection fees, planning permit searches, direct control district, discretionary-use development permits, encroachment agreement, and subsequent pre-application and application meetings fees.
A survey was created in the spring to encourage community feedback and garner input for the budget. In total, 494 responses were received. Residents can still voice their feedback by visiting the Town's Let's Talk Cochrane website before Nov. 22, when responses will be presented to council.
The draft budget is subject to changes as proposed by council over the course of several upcoming meetings. Once discussions have ended, the budget will be brought to a committee-of-the-whole meeting Dec. 6 to then be finalized and adopted Dec. 13.
