The Town of Coaldale has released its 2024 Comparative Analysis. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Coaldale a ‘low revenue-low spend’ municipality; analysis

Jun 6, 2025 | 9:50 AM

A new report by the Town of Coaldale reflects well on the community and its finances.

The 2024 Comparative Analysis looks at neighbouring communities like Lethbridge, Lethbridge County and Taber, as well as similarly sized (8,000-10,000 population) municipalities such as Blackfalds, Innisfail, Drumheller, Olds, Hinton and Edson.

The Town of Coaldale explains that the report is a means of “benchmarking” itself, which is a common practice among businesses to assess their own financial and operational performance in relation to their closest competitors.

Chief Administrative Officer Kalen Hastings says Coaldale did quite well overall, classifying it as a “low revenue-low spend” municipality.

“As reflected in the Analysis, when compared to its peer/competitor municipalities, Coaldale continues to stand out for its exemplary financial performance, and deserves recognition for its efficient and balanced approach to municipal operations,” says Hastings.

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Among the communities being analyzed, Coaldale had the second-lowest total revenues per capita at $2,364, but the lowest operational expenditures at $1,891.

The average for these municipalities was $3,166 in per capita revenues and $2,641 in costs.

Lethbridge, being by far the biggest community in the report, had both the highest costs and revenues.

Coaldale spent 72 per cent of its tax revenues on salaries, wages and benefits as a percentage of tax revenues in 2023, the lowest of the participating centres. That comes out to $737 per capita for Coaldale, while the average was $1,006. Lethbridge was double Coaldale’s amount at $1,489.

The Town of Coaldale claims that it neither overspends nor underspends for its elected officials, being right in the middle of the pack. The mayor made $54,908 in 2023 while councillors each received $31,418.

A point of pride for Coaldale was its reduction in the residential mill rate for property taxes. Between 2021 and 2024, that fell by 12.9 per cent in Coaldale, while the average was a reduction of just 0.6 per cent.

The non-residential mill rate also fell by 1.8 per cent in Coaldale during that time, while other communities increased by 1.5 per cent.

Coaldale had the lowest average crime severity index score between 2019 and 2023.

Mayor Jack Van Rijn says he is proud of Coaldale’s municipal government and administration for the results it has seen over the last several years.

“These achievements reflect not only our Council’s careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars but also our commitment to maintaining Coaldale’s reputation as an affordable community, ripe with opportunity,” says Van Rijn. “As we look ahead, we remain steadfast in our mission to balance fiscal prudence with sustainable growth, ensuring Coaldale continues to flourish for years to come.”

The full 2024 Comparative Analysis can be found on the Town of Coaldale’s website.

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