Morden city council is hiking its budget by 27 per cent for 2024, which will bring just over a seven per cent increase in a typical municipal tax bill for ratepayers.
The $26.2 million financial plan approved by council at a special meeting last Tuesday includes a capital budget of almost $20.5 million.
It comes with a three per cent increase in the base municipal tax, but there are also three special levies including waste disposal at $163.48, hospital/health care at $91, and Western School Division at $11.35.
Overall, it means the base municipal tax on a property assessed at $280,000 will increase by $63.75 to $2,187.23. Add in the $104.72 increase in the three special levies and the end result will be a final tax bill with a 7.3 per cent increase of $168.47 to $2,453.06
The budget presentation emphasized that the base three per cent increase will all be allocated to boost general reserve funds and that the increase in operating expenses will be supported by increased provincial funding rather than the increase in the mill rate.
“We are accomplishing a fair bit … and it’s a good way to add that to the tax roll without adding it to the mill rate … just special levies on the tax roll,” said Mayor Nancy Penner. “Council felt we always need to get money into reserve because we need that cushion.
“As we go forward, we’re able to work with a three per cent mill rate increase … that three per cent increase is going directly into our reserves. We are able to balance our budget otherwise without further increasing the mill rate.”
Penner suggested the city very much “tried to work within our means. We worked really hard to stay within our budget, and not everything stayed on the table.
“I think we were able to put forward a very good budget that encourages economic growth and development but ensures we have sustainable growth, and I think that is what the city needs. We have to be able to sustain our growth and be fiscally responsible for that growth.
“We are happy with it,” she said. “We have to compliment our city department heads and how hard they worked. They brought forward their priority lists, and not all of them got filled. They ranked them … the departments worked really hard to put their priorities forward in their budgets.”
Penner said the financial plan overall was driven by a need for a number of significant projects for the city, including addressing not only wastewater and water treatment but everything from a new day care to expansion of the industrial park.
“We have a lot of big projects on our plate for this year,” she said. “Most of our projects we are getting 50/50 funding through our Manitoba water services … there is a big allocation of some money going into some major projects that we’re looking at this year.
“The city is working hard with the Manitoba Water Services Board to get our design for the wastewater treatment plan in place,” Penner noted.
The budget sets out that 43 per cent of revenue comes through the property taxes, and the revenue from the tax levy and grants in lieu of taxes increases by 11 per cent to over $11.3 million
The budget is forecasting a 66 per cent increase in other revenue to almost $11.9 million, while transfers from surplus and reserve funds decreases 7.5 per cent to over $3 million.
The biggest change on the revenue side is an expected increase in federal funding to almost $4.4 million from just over half a million dollars in 2023, and it is primarily as a result of support for the day care project.
Breaking it down
Here is how the operating budget breaks down and some highlights from each category:
• Fiscal services – a 62.5 per cent increase to $11.4 million and over 43 per cent of the budget. It includes almost $11 million going to the capital budget as well as over $412,000 in debenture debt charges.
• Protective services – a three per cent increase to over $3.7 million and just over 14 per cent of the budget.
It includes over $2.6 million for police salaries and benefits and just under $290,000 for fire service salaries and benefits.
• Community services – a 10.3 per cent increase to just under $3.7 million and about 14 per cent of the budget.
It includes over $1.9 million for the recreation department and $765,000 for parks and urban forestry as well as $388,000 for the beach and campground. There is also $264,000 for the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre and over $201,000 for library services as well as lesser amounts for such places as the Pembina Hills Arts Council and Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame.
• General government services – an 8.6 per cent increase to just under $1.9 million and just over seven per cent of the budget.
It includes over $635,000 for administrative staff and over $300,000 for both the IT department and damage and liability insurance.
• Transportation services – a 1.6 per cent increase to over $1.88 million and just over seven per cent of the budget.
It includes over $574,000 for planning and engineering, $275,000 for snow removal, and over $170,000 each for street lighting and road maintenance labour costs.
• Transfers to reserves – an 8.6 per cent increase to $1.67 million or over six per cent of the budget. It includes over $1 million into general reserve and over $641,000 into replacement reserve.
• Environmental health services – a 14 per cent increase to over $925,000 and 3.5 per cent of the budget. It includes over $542,000 for recycling and $234,000 for garbage collection.
• Economic development services – a 9.6 per cent increase to over $643,000 and about 2.5 per cent of the budget. It includes over $358,000 for economic development programs and services.
• Public health and welfare services – a 183 per cent increase to over $427,000 and 1.6 per cent of the budget. It includes $400,000 for the Menzies Medical Centre.
• Environmental development services – unchanged at $1,250.
The capital budget includes a number of big ticket items especially connected to sewer and water projects. It includes $6 million for wastewater treatment as well as over $1.2 million related to wastewater treatment design work.
Other major utilities projects include $680,000 for a water treatment plant upgrade, $400,000 for preliminary design work on a second reservoir, $400,000 for water line renewal on the 400 block of 6th Street, $242,000 for the new lift station on First Street near Decor Cabinets, and $120,000 for preliminary design work on a proposed Pembina River diversion water project.
Other capital projects cover a wide array of projects from sidewalks and pathways to public works equipment. A few highlights include:
• Development of a new day care – just under $4.4 million.
• Infrastructure for new industrial park development – $1.65 million.
• New fire department ladder truck – $950,000.
• New grader for public works – $520,000.
• Infrastructure master plan – $350,000, conditional on other funding.
