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Proposed budget would mean higher taxes, fees
Water bills exempt for now; town council will decide on Dec. 18

Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 17, 2012

THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Fort Smith town council will vote this week on a proposed budget for 2013 that would raise municipal taxes, increase almost all town fees and adopt a number of money-saving measures.

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Brad Brake: Fort Smith doing the best it can in a tight budget situation.

Mayor Brad Brake said the property tax increase would be two per cent. It could have been much higher without trimming the proposed budget, added.

The mayor said to maintain current services and add increased costs would have required a tax increase of 8.55 per cent.

"Obviously, that was unpalatable to anybody on council," he said. "Nobody on council was enthused about that number, I could tell you that."

However, he said a two per cent increase was agreeable to the committee of the whole, which unanimously voted on Dec. 11 to recommend the proposed budget to council.

"I'm hoping that the people of Fort Smith will look at it and understand what we're faced with in regards to the increases we were forced into," the mayor said, adding those increased costs include fuel, the cost of living and a new collective agreement.

Brake said the proposed budget includes an across-the-board 15 per cent increase in user fees and other fees charged by the municipality, with the exception of water.

"Water is not going up, even though our water hasn't gone up in 12 years," he said.

However, the town is investigating the feasibility of adding the 15 per cent fee increase to water, because it is in such a tight budget situation.

"If you raise it too much and you make too much money off your water, then MACA won't give you as much money," Brake said, referring to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. "So if you raise the cost, it will actually end up costing you more."

The fee hikes would affect such things as the Rec Centre, after-school care and the arena.

"I don't think we're going to see an outcry or anything," Brake said about the possible response to the budget by residents. "The thing is we're trying to do the best we can with a very limited budget and without doing too much in regards to increases."

The town's projected operating budget for 2013 is $5.2 million.

The proposed budget will now go for first and second readings at the regular council meeting on Dec. 18. If it passes those readings, the meeting will be adjourned and a special meeting will be held afterward to present the proposed budget for third and final reading.

"We did a very, very tight budget," said Brake. "A lot of funding was pared back. A lot of our projections were pared back. We actually cut it back quite a bit."

For one, the budget proposes closing the swimming pool for one day a week. Which day would be determined by an examination of usage.

"A pool is very expensive to operate obviously, but it's one of the items that we in the town feel is very important," Brake said, noting there was even discussion about closing the pool for three months in the winter, which is the most expensive time for it to operate.

Ib Kristensen, a senior who uses the pool twice a week as part of a physiotherapy program, said he could live with a one-day-a-week closure.

However, Kristensen doubts the town will save much money by closing the facility for just one day, noting the only savings he can see is for the salary of a lifeguard since the facility will still be heated.

"One day a week sounds silly to me," he said.

The idea also makes him worry the town may eventually close the pool for three months in the winter.

Under the proposed budget, the pool and the Rec Centre would also be closed for most statutory holidays.

The budget also contains some new fees, including a landfill tipping fee for certain large items, such as trailer home frames.

There would also be a new $40 fee during spring clean-up to pick up any large item that wouldn't normally be taken away by a garbage truck.

"It was quite costly," Brake said of spring cleanup. "It was about $25,000 to do that."

The proposed budget would also remove the three-per-cent discount for early payment of municipal taxes.

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