Lethbridge Council sign outside offices - LNN

By Dori Modney

Lethbridge County Council approves upcoming Capital and Operating Budgets

Dec 17, 2020 | 2:06 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB. — At its meeting on Thursday (Dec 17), Lethbridge County Council approved both its 2021 through 2013 Operating budget and its 2021 through 2025 Capital budget.

Expense totals for the 2021 Operating portion came in over $28 Million, with the Capital budget just over $9 Million.

The tax support increase for next year is projected at just under one per cent, or 0.973 per cent, and just over one percent at 0.109 per cent, after assessment growth.

Chief Administrative Officer, Ann Mitchell, acknowledges the challenges in preparing the budget, as the County saw a significant reduction in grant funding, while additional costs have been downloaded to communities by the Province.

As noted in a news release, along with expected expenses, Lethbridge County is required by the Province through the Inter-Municipal Collaboration Framework Agreements to pay for recreation funding to municipalities within its boundaries. The 2021 Recreation funding per the agreements is $253,750. Policing costs for Lethbridge County in 2021 were increased by $117,540 from the 2020 allocation to $352,106. The County’s share of the Agricultural Services Operational Grant was reduced by $136,630.

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These costs add 2.475 per cent to the required tax support before any other cost adjustments, efficiencies or other savings are realized.

County budget — from the County of Lethbridge

A review of expenditures for each county department allowed staff to identify efficiencies that include staff restructuring, alternative funding options and adjusting expenses to align with departmental historical averages.

The effort will result in over half a million ($516,195) in cost savings.

There are also several Capital projects in the 2021 budget. They include road improvements, such as re-surfacing Range Road 19-2, reconstruction to Range Road 22-4 and Broxburn Road paving. As well, there’s a continuation of the Malloy Drain project near Coaldale, two bridge replacements, and playground equipment replacement in Monarch.

Reeve Lorne Hickey concedes it was a difficult budget but, it was a priority for the County to ensure increased taxes were kept to a minimum.

” If we did not have these extra costs imposed on us by the Province, we would have been able to achieve a tax decrease of approximately 1.5% for 2021. Looking forward, we have many operational and capital projects that will improve both quality of life for our citizens and allow our businesses to operate more efficiently.”

The entire budget document can be viewed on the Lethbridge County website.