If approved by council, the municipality’s draft operating budget for 2014 would result in a 6.38 per cent tax increase, as well as an increase of 15 per cent for water rates, 5.2 per cent for sewage rates and four per cent for solid waste fees.
On the average utility bill, the increases to water, sewer and solid waste would equate to an annual increase of $46.
On Dec. 9, council, administration and five members of the public discussed the budgets for the operations, administration and environmental stewardship departments, as well as for the Jasper Community Housing Corporation.
Outlined below is a brief overview of the increases or decreases—in the case of the housing corporation—for each department and the justifications provided by each municipal director.
Administration
As the budget stands, administration has the largest increase of all the departments, coming in at $270,609. That equates to a 22 per cent increase over its budget from 2013.
The total budget for the department, if approved, will be about $1.646 million.
The largest portion of that increase—$134,000—would cover the cost of participating in three studies: a joint land use and planning review with Parks Canada, a benchmarking study with 11 other municipalities and a regional air carrier study with Tourism Jasper and the towns of Hinton, Yellowhead County and Edson.
Peter Waterworth, chief administrative officer for the municipality, provided information on each of the studies and explained that, right now, none are a sure thing, but if they are to happen at all, there has to be funds in the budget.
(To learn more about the regional air carrier study, pick up the Dec. 19 issue of the Fitzhugh.)
Also included in the increase is an administrative assistant for council ($50,030), a review of non-unionized positions ($9,000) and funding to host a delegation from Jasper’s sister city, Hakone, Japan.
When presenting the budget, Alice Lettner, director of finance, noted although it might seem dull, administration is a vital department in the municipality. “We deal with numbers, we process grants, we deal with payroll, we deal with taxes and human resources and a number of other things,” she said.
Operations
The department of operations is brand new. It was developed following a recommendation from the Services and Structural Review, and it replaces the department of environmental services.
When compared to the environmental services budget for 2013, operations has proposed a 2.5 per cent increase—$46,017—with a total budget of about $5.355 million.
It is also within the department of operations that the utility increases fall.
Bruce Thompson was recently hired as the director of operations and he has since been working on structuring the department, as well as setting priorities for asset and infrastructure management.
Included in those priorities is the implementation of an annual replacement program for inoperable mainline water valves. In 2014 there is a budget line that would see five replaced, at a total cost of $50,000.
“Currently staff know of 27 mainline valves that do not operate and this is after an inspection of 60-plus. So over 40 per cent of the valves in one section of town don’t operate properly,” said Thompson, noting that there are another 230 valves that haven’t yet been inspected.
“We’re behind. But, be that as it may, we’re optimistic it won’t be as bad in some other areas.”
Also in the draft budget is $15,000 to hire a consultant to undertake the initial stages of modelling the town’s water distribution system.
“The water modelling system is a beautiful thing,” said Thompson. “You can look and find where your weaknesses are, where your lines are undersized and you can plan your capital replacement programs accordingly.”
Thompson noted that the items in the operations budget aren’t glamorous, but they are necessary to ensure that the public continues to receive the basic services it expects.
“It’s basically taken for granted,” he said of water and sewer services, “we turn our taps on, we flush our toilet and it almost always works. So, we are going to continue to do our best to keep it that way and we’ll continue to ask for the resources we need to do so.”
Environmental Stewardship
The Environmental Stewardship program is jointly funded by Parks Canada and the municipality.
In 2013, each organization gave $81,000 for a total budget of $162,000. For 2014, a new memorandum of understanding is being worked on that would see the program receive a total budget of $164,430, with each party contributing $82,215.
In the proposed 2014 budget, there is $35,000 for a residential energy efficiency rebate program that would be run by an organization called C3, as well as $5,000 toward events for Environment Week, $3,000 for a solar project for campground washrooms and $1,500 for indoor compost bins for restaurants, just to name a few.
Also included is $9,000 toward the Reuse It Centre, which—unless further subsidized—will close its doors.
When asked whether that $9,000 would be a yearly cost to the municipality or if it would be a one time payment, Janet Cooper, the program coordinator, told council that the Jasper Environmental Stewardship Society, which runs the centre, will present a business plan in January and within it, that question will be answered.
Cooper explained that the budget line of $9,000 is there in case council approves the society’s funding request.
Environmental Stewardship is community driven, with a board made up of five residents, a representative from Parks Canada, a member of council, as well as the environmental stewardship coordinator.
Jasper Community Housing Corporation
The housing corporation will see a budget decrease of $4,650 from last year.
In the draft operating budget for 2014, the corporation has a budget of $31,275.
“Their budget is fairly nominal,” said Alice Lettner, director of finance, as she presented the numbers, Monday evening. “Its budget continues to decline as the corporation establishes its mandate.”
The housing corporation has a board and an administrative assistant. It’s philosophy is to “provide affordable accommodation for long-term sustainability and vitality of the community,” said Lettner, noting that the corporation accomplishes its goal by advancing, promoting and supporting partnerships that will provide adequate housing for the residents of Jasper.
Council held its second budget meeting last night, Dec. 11. Discussed were the budgets for the departments of culture and recreation, community and family services and protective services. For more information on that meeting, see the Dec. 19 issue of the Fitzhugh.
Council will again discuss the budget at the Dec. 17 regular meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the Emergency Services Building.
The 2014 capital budget will be discussed in the new year.
