At last week’s public budget hearing, the Municipality of Rhineland council shared their financial plan for 2024.
Rhineland Reeve Don Wiebe said inflationary pressures played a big role in the budget planning process this year.
“Historically, Rhineland has always been cautious in protecting our reserve funds. We have done our due diligence and continue to put money aside. This year, because of inflation, we realized we were going to have to up the ante a bit.”
This year’s equipment purchases will include two graders, a truck, fire department capital, office equipment, and a mower, totalling $1.2 million.
“We fund our graders and backhoes through the municipal reserve fund,” explained Wiebe. “So that hits pretty hard because of the huge cost increase.”
Consequently, Rhineland residents will see a climb in their tax bill this year.
Through proportional assessment, residential tax is based on 45 per cent of actual assessed value, 26 per cent for farm property and 65 per cent for all commercial ventures.
In 2023, Rhineland’s total proportioned assessment was $662 million, and in 2024 it’s $671 million, reflecting an increase of one per cent.
In Rhineland, farmland makes up 58 per cent of the total assessment, residential is 27 per cent and commercial and all other revenue such as pipelines is 15 per cent.
Based on per $1,000 assessment, the mill rate was 8.361 in 2023. In 2024, that will rise by 5.49 per cent to 8.82.
In terms of farm tax, if your rural property is worth about $659,000, your increase will be 5.5 per cent, or $79.
In Rosenfeld, a rural property assessed at $494,000 will see an increase of 0.3 per cent, or $13. In Gretna, a property assessed at $494,000 will see an increase of 6.6 per cent, or $421. And in Plum Coulee, with the same assessment of $494,000, property taxes will increase by 3.2 per cent, or $230.
Commercial taxes, based on a $494,000 assessment, will see a $147 increase in rural business properties, a $13 increase Rosenfeld, $421 in Gretna, and $230 in Plum Coulee.
LUDs have separate budgets, and their mill rates vary. Based on residential properties valued at $236,000, rural taxes will increase by 5.49 per cent, or $49. Rosenfeld taxes will increase by $4, Gretna by $139, and Plum Coulee by $76.
“Gretna is not growing, so you have a de-evaluation of your assessment, so this rises,” Wiebe explained.
He says determining local taxes can be a difficult process.
“Given the inflation, it’s a reasonable increase. We try to keep mill rates close to the same. We do not want a big surprise for taxpayers; they need to be able to count on something. This year, residents knew there was inflation, and got hit by it as well. But we’ve been able to keep things close to the status quo.”
While grant support will decrease by $450,000 in 2024, the municipality continues to complete ongoing capital projects.
This year’s $8.7 million capital budget includes Phase 3 of the Priority Grain Roads project, improvements to the Ag Park, water line looping, and work will begin on improvements at the Gretna Arena.
“The three-year Grain Roads project is nearly complete,” Wiebe noted. “Last year we put in the concrete pier at West Ag Park. Now, we’re working on the base, to give those roads more resilience when it comes to big trucks. We’ll be paying for the two graders that we already have.”
Water line looping will be done in the rural areas.
“Blumenort, for example, has pressure issues during the peak time. It drops so low that people can’t even have a shower at times,” said Wiebe. “Another problem is if we consistently have that level of low pressure, we need to start thinking about boil water advisories. But if we loop it, there’s extra water that’s available for certain spots. There are also dead ends, where we get stale water. If we loop it, or reroute it over a bigger region, we refresh it.”
The DFA flood damage grant of $4.5 million will also be paid out.
“There are still some repairs needed at the crossing on Road 9 and a repair on Road 7, but the $2.8 million border road project was completed,” Wiebe said.
The Gretna Arena will see some vast improvements this year.
“There was a $300,000 increase on that project,” Wiebe said. “This is a three-year process. Initially, it was supposed to be a $1 million project, but that’s gone up. Right now, the tenders are out. The plans are drawn. There will be a new roof and better entrance accessibility. We’re also redoing some of the washrooms. It will be a huge improvement, that will save a lot of energy.”
Rhineland began 2024 with $1.4 million in debt, which includes the cost of reservoirs and the Plum Coulee fire hall upgrades.
Their proposed borrowing for this year includes $250,000 for an intersection upgrade and $2.3 million for a low-pressure sewer at the Ag Park.
“The province allows us to borrow up to $47 million. So that means we are using just three per cent of our allowable debt.” Wiebe said. “That’s impressive. We’ve worked hard to keep the municipality in the black. That’s why we have those reserve funds. To buy the two graders, at the cost of $900,000, we would have to borrow money for that. But we have the money sitting in an account earning interest. I’m proud of this.”
Reflecting on the upcoming year, Wiebe says he’s happy with the new financial plan.
“It’s a budget that keeps us sustainable and allows us to keep our pattern going without creating more debt.”
