By Curtis Galbraith

County of Grande Prairie

County of Grande Prairie Council approves interim 2023 budget

Dec 9, 2022 | 5:35 PM

County of Grande Prairie Council has approved an interim budget for 2023.

The county says in a news release that there is no increase planned for municipal property taxes.

“We know households and businesses are facing increased costs, just like our administration. This economic reality was top of mind for County Council as we adopted a preliminary budget that maintains services and infrastructure levels while doing everything in our power to avoid increases for residents,” says Reeve Bob Marshall in a release from the county.

The $134.2 million spending plan includes $96.5 million for general operations and $37.7 million in capital spending.

The capital budget includes:

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· About 57 per cent of the capital budget is going toward capital road and bridge projects

· $7 million of the $25 million total to construct a Regional Enforcement Services and RCMP Detachment Building in the Hamlet of Clairmont

· $6 million in recreation, community, culture, FCSS, seniors and special needs transportation, and library grants to various organizations

· $3.33 million for the final contribution of a total of $10 million toward the Highway 40 Twinning and Bridge Construction (cost-shared with the Province of Alberta and MD of Greenview)

· $2.3 million in Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework (ICF) Contributions, cost-sharing agreements with other municipalities, including the City of Grande Prairie and the towns of Beaverlodge, Sexsmith, and Wembley

· $2 million in transfers to the provincial government for RCMP policing costs

· $1.8 million for the new Teepee Creek Fire Hall

· $1.3 million to the City of Grande Prairie for the revenue sharing agreement which has the purpose of fostering regional development (share of municipal tax revenue – 20 per cent from the co-generational facility and 10 per cent on any new commercial/industrial development in areas serviced by Aquatera)

“By setting priorities and dipping into savings, we adopted a preliminary budget with no proposed increase to our municipal tax rates. We are cautiously optimistic and are waiting to see what impact market conditions and provincial grants have on our bottom line, come final budget deliberations,” adds Marshall in that same release.

The final budget will be approved in April once assessments are done, and the education portion of the tax bill is decided by the province.