Grande Prairie City Hall budget talks start Wednesday with projected 6.09% tax increase

“This number is not taken lightly by council or by administration, but I can tell you that the simple fact is that over the past five years, we’ve kept close to a zero per cent cumulative increase in comparison to a 15 per cent cumulative rate of inflation.”

Clayton says it is unfortunate the city has gotten to this point but adds it costs more to operate any organization, business or family now than it has in the past.

She adds that labour will be the biggest operational expense.

“Contractual agreements continue to go up on a regular basis and operational costs continue to go up, as your household (expenses) continue to go up.”

“It’s a reality that in an organization our size, we see significant increases. For example, our transmission costs on our electricity bill, for just the city facilities alone, is $4.8 million.”

Clayton says road work will be the biggest expense in the capital budget.

“There are no real significant additions, other than what’s been added to budget deliberations. (The) covered dome structure, that’s something that will be part of deliberations. It’s not in the 6.09 per cent.”

Clayton says she is optimistic that the city will not be at 6.09 per cent by the time discussions end.

by Curtis Galbraith

Grande Prairie City Hall budget talks start Wednesday with projected 6.09% tax increase

Pro Tips