Town of Barrhead property owners could see an increase in their property tax bill due to an increase in both the residential and non-residential mill rates.
On April 10, councillors unanimously approved both the 2018 operating and capital budgets.
Council adopted the 2018 operating budget with revenues of $14,201,228 and expenses of $14,183.801 for a surplus of $17,427. At the same time, they approved the capital revenues and expenses budget of $8,451,511.
The 2018 mill rate for residential properties is 8.227 per cent, a 0.25 per cent increase, while non-residential has been set at 13.8405 per cent an increase of 0.25 per cent. The town estimates, as a result, that they will collect $127,189 in revenue respectively, which will be allocated to capital projects for facilities, equipment, roads, water, sanitary and storm sewer projects.
The school portion of residential tax rates for residential properties has increased slightly to 2.6228 mills, up from 2.5761, which equates to $4.67 per $100,000 of assessed value.
For non-residential properties, the school portion of the tax rate increases from 3.6055 mills to 3.6296 mills, which will equate to an extra $2.41 per $100,000 of assessed value.
The Barrhead and District Social Housing Association requisition remains virtually unchanged and as a result, will have a minimal effect on the overall tax notice.
The budget also notes that residential property values have dropped slightly over the last year with the majority of residential single-family assessments increased or decreased by an average of 0.5 per cent. However, the majority of non-residential assessments increased by an average of 1.5 to 2.5 per cent.
The aquatic centre debenture payment for the third straight year is noted as a separate line item and is at 0.5711 mills, a slight decrease over last year’s 0.5824 meaning the effect on each $100,000 of residential assessment will be $57.11.
As a net result, it is estimated most residential will see an increase $22.81 per $100,000 of assessed value.
Coun. Leslie Penny said councillors did their best to keep the tax increase as small as possible.
“I know it looks like we just pass the budget quickly without much thought, but in reality, we as a council have spent hours together deliberating what items should and shouldn’t go into the budget,” she said.
Mayor Dave McKenzie agreed and said administration and councillors did their best to keep the mill rate increase as low as possible.
“The cost of things keep going up so we had to up it [mill rate] a little bit. This is about as little of an increase that we could handle and still keep the service levels where they are,” he said after the meeting.
Council approved the revised 2018 Barrhead Regional Landfill capital budget in the amount of $22,200 with equal contributions of $11,100 from the town and county.
Councillors unanimously voted to give firefighters a 1.5 per cent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) when it approved the Barrhead Regional Fire Services Policy 23-18-005. The policy also set the minimum wage for firefighters who are going through their orientation or probation period at $15 an hour beginning in October. Currently, the pay rate is $14.20 an hour. The pay scale for firefighters after their probationary period ranges from $18.59 an hour for a Class 4 member to $26.38 an hour for a senior firefighter. In addition to the paid per call hourly rate, the policy sets a monthly honorarium of $150 and $200 for captains and deputy fire chiefs. This is in recognition for the extra responsibility required of these positions on and off scene. The policy also sets a flat weekend on-call rate of $37.50 per day. This rate increases to $62.50 on weekends between July 1 to Aug. 31 and the weekend after Christmas.
“In the summertime there are not many members around because of vacations, et cetera so this is just a bit of an added incentive to stick around if they can and stay close to their radios and pagers,” said deputy mayor and former firefighter Ty Assaf.
Council also approved the revised 2018 capital budget in the amount of $46,800 with equal contributions of $23,400 coming from both Barrhead municipalities.
Council approved a 1.5 per cent cost of living allowance for town employees.
