By Curtis Galbraith

County of Grande Prairie budget talks start today

Dec 3, 2018 | 4:30 AM

County of Grande Prairie Council starts three days of deliberations on the 2019 budget today.
 
CAO Bill Rogan says different options for what to do with respect to possible changes to property taxes will be presented.
 
“Generally, I would say, we’re looking over the next two or three years at possibly (raising taxes) two percent a year. Having said that, council still has to make that decision. There may be opportunities to lower that or options as well to see it increase.”
 
Rogan says the County is not feeling pressure to lower taxes after a cut to city property taxes. He adds every municipality is unique and has its own needs.
 
Rogan says roads will be the biggest expense again.
 
“We’ve really got no single large project but our usual number of road upgrades and the pressures to improve our road system.”
 
He adds low oil prices are a concern when it comes to provincial money.
 
“On one side, the province did give us a bump in funding a few years ago, sort of an advance on grants coming in subsequent years. One of those is this year, so we will be getting less this year for our Municipal Sustainability grant. Having said that, the difference was given to us a couple of years ago.”
 
Talks are set to last for three days, although the budget will not be finalized until spring.
 
Rogan says this will be an interim budget as some numbers from the province still have to come in.