Mayor sees no jump in taxes

The Village of Valemount will go into budget lockup next month as the village will close its doors and start working on next year’s budget, said Mayor Bob Smith.

The Mayor said 2010 will see a similar budget compared to 2009, although they won’t have the grants they had in 2009.

“We went through a terrific amount of grants this past year. It’s not going to be the same next year because of the provincial government here, the coverage is just pretty bare with them,” said Smith.

Once budget deliberations are over, the Village has some funds to start an upgrade on one of the sewer lift stations, and the water treatment plant, which is set to be finished near the end of March.

Smith said those are the only two major items of 2010 at this time, and he doesn’t predict an increase in taxes.

“None that we are aware of. I see no increase in taxes at all,” he said.

The downtown revitalization project won’t be much of an issue, as everything is complete save for some cosmetic work, shrubs, plants and cleanup, which will be done in the new year, Smith said.

The Village would like the new CAO to be involved in the budget process if possible, but at this time they are still finalizing potential interviews for the position, said Smith.

Lonny Miller is the current interim CAO, and will be involved during the budget lockup, as Smith said after hiring their permanent CAO, a minimum of two weeks notice would likely need to be given before they can start in Valemount. Being so close to Christmas already, he expects a possible start date of February 1.