Melfort City Hall (file photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Aaron Schulze

Melfort Budget 2020

Melfort council asks admin to look for efficiencies in operating budget

Nov 30, 2019 | 4:10 PM

Melfort city council and administration met on Friday, Nov. 30 to touch on the city’s capital budget and operational budget for 2020.

The operational budget preview was a quick overview of Melfort’s status quo budget, which is the existing budget with some additions and inflation aspects. It includes:

• $85,000 for annual infrastructure funding
• $10,000 for internal financing repayment so the city may borrow more money for infrastructure needs
• $132,537 for a 27^th pay period; wages and benefits
• $73,500 for contract and utilities inflation
• $151,880 estimated revenue increase from previous tax incentives

In total, the City of Melfort would see a 2.41 per cent tax increase with its operational budget, although Mayor Rick Lang said council wants to keep the increase closer to two per cent.

“The direction I heard from our chair of finances (Councillor Trent Mitchell) to administration was to have a serious look for efficiencies within the entire budget,” Lang said. “Over the years, we’ve gone everywhere from two per cent all the way to five per cent, depending on what issues we’re faced with on years when our revenue sharing has been cut. In cases like this, the want of council is to get around that two per cent mark, which is going to be a mirror of inflation and programs we’ve committed to already.”

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Prior to the budget meeting, Melfort council and administration met with Melfort MLA Todd Goudy and Prince Albert MP Randy Hoback, with the predominant topic being infrastructure costs and water loss. Lang said council hopes both carry the city’s concerns forward to the provincial and federal government respectively.

Melfort council will meet with city administration again in the coming weeks to see if any efficiencies are present in the existing budget. The capital budget, with the exception of the landfill capital budget, could come to the next council meeting in December for ratification.

The capital budget questions centred around sidewalks that weren’t part of Melfort’s essential sidewalk program, but needed to be replaced. Council decided there was no immediate concern based on a letter they received from Maude Burke Elementary School. However, council said it’s something that needs to be considered for future budgets past 2020.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow