Stonewall residents had the chance to weigh in on a special services plan and to learn what it means to them.
On. Jan. 1, Stonewall expanded by five-quarter sections through the addition of 777 acres that were annexed from the RM of Rockwood. It was the culmination of a six-year process, which involved multiple public meetings and a Municipal Board hearing.
The changed boundaries will provide the Town of Stonewall with more developable land to support residential and commercial development into the future.
The Town of Stonewall and RM of Rockwood came up with a formal agreement about how the two municipalities would address taxes and services now that the annexation has occurred.
For the properties in the annexed area, Stonewall committed to not raise taxes for any services that aren’t provided by the town — in particular, parks and arena, street lighting, police protection and snow removal. In addition, the town’s at-large mill rate would be comparable to Rockwood’s at-large mill rate.
In Stonewall, the at-large mill rate pays for all services except debt payment and garbage and recycling fees. For 2023, Stonewall’s at-large mill rate was 9.992 mills compared to Rockwood’s 8.687 mills. The 1.305-mill difference equates to about $456,750.
The Town of Stonewall is creating an urban services levy to offset the cost of some services that won’t be provided to the annexed lands or are funded outside taxation. In total, $455,000 will moved from the town’s at-large mill rate to the urban special services levy.
“Our goal or objective was to try to find a way to remove $460,000 out of our at-large mill rate so we could then have an at-large mill rate reflective of the RM of Rockwood’s for charging to the annexed lands,” CAO Wally Melnyk explained at a public hearing on Jan. 31.
“That’s why we’re creating this urban service levy. It will offset the cost of some of the services that aren’t being provided to the annexed lands or they’re being funded outside of taxation.”
For police protection, Stonewall pays for policing in town and also gets a grant from the province to offset some of those costs. The funding and the number of police officers will stay the same.
“From the perspective of those that are coming in on the annexed lands, it’s very much the same as it was before,” Melnyk said. “And because of that, we’re excluding them in terms of the costs from the police protection standpoint for the community.”
Street lighting won’t be extended to the annexed area at the current time, and snow removal will continue under the RM of Rockwood.
“Our agreement with the RM is that as long as the properties stay as they were on Dec. 31 — so rural in nature, acreages, farms — we will continue to provide a grant back to the RM for the taxes we collect and they will continue to provide services.”
For properties that were part of the Town of Stonewall up to Dec. 31, 2023, there will be no overall financial impact and no tax increase. The difference is that property owners will now pay two components — the at-large mill rate and urban services levy — that add up to the same amount that was paid in the past.
For properties in the annexed area, they will now have an at-large mill rate in Stonewall that is comparable to Rockwood’s mill rate, and they will only pay for the services that they receive.
In the future, if the lands in the annexed areas start receiving additional services such as street lighting, they would also pay towards the special levy.
Looking ahead, the special services levy will be reviewed on an annual basis.
If council opts to pass the bylaw to enact the special services plan, the town will send copies to the municipal finance officer for review by the Municipal Board.
