The RM of Rhineland has set in place a budget for the year that largely maintains the status quo.
Council last week approved a 2026 budget that forecasts a drop in revenues by about $500,000 to $15.5 million, while expenditures rise by a similar amount to just over $15.9 million.
The mill rate rises from 8.622 up to 9.13, resulting in an average increase of 5.9 per cent in municipal taxes. On what might be considered an average residential property, the municipal tax bill will go up from $1,560.57 to 1,652.52. A commercial property that had paid $2,078.86 will see an increase to $2,201.34, while a farm that paid $846.79 will now pay $896.68.
Municipal representatives said the 2026 budget is largely holding the line with modest increases in a few areas such as road maintenance and transportation and equipment expenditures.
“We think it’s a fair budget,” said finance committee chairperson Jake Heppner. “We actually put quite a bit of money into reserves. We didn’t have to, but we chose to put $2.2 million into our reserves … we spent quite a bit of money on equipment.”
“There were some pressures with equipment costs, so looking forward, we had to make sure those reserves can cover our capital expenditures going forward,” said Reeve Don Wiebe.
He added there are always some increased costs for things like road improvements and maintenance.
“So there’s increased expenses and keeping the status of our reserves where we don’t have to borrow money for equipment and such,” he said.
“Considering the increased costs, I think it’s pretty fair,” said Wiebe. “We could have maybe gone with less [of a tax increase], but it’s probably more of a long term budget. We’re looking more two or three years down the road that we are secure with what we have in reserves to fund what we need at that time.”
One exception as far as municipal taxes is Gretna, where there is a budget decrease for the local urban district (LUD) from $450,600 to $382,650. The tax levy though rises from $284,280 to $321,205, which means a 15.7 per cent increase in municipal taxes. A property assessed at $226,400, for example, will see its municipal taxes increase by $294 to $2,169.43.
“There’s a couple of issues there. First of all, the low growth in terms of new assessment. That hasn’t helped,” said Wiebe. “And the surplus was depleted, so we had nothing to carry forward, and some of the arena costs were higher than anticipated.”
By comparison, in the LUD of Plum Coulee, there is a budget increase from $1,080,100 to $1,258,200. The tax levy sees a minor increase from $754,235 to $795,242, so municipal tax bills will pretty much remain the same.
In the LUD of Rosenfeld, the budget goes up from $154,400 to $191,950. The tax levy goes up from $103,400 to $110,950, and the tax increases will vary from perhaps 1.9 per cent to 2.4 per cent. For example, a property assessed at $210,100 will see its municipal taxes go up from $1,243.87 to $1,270.51 for an increase of $26.64
Municipal taxes account for about 53 per cent of the RM’s revenue, with a projected increase from $7.7 million to $8.2 million. Other revenue such as federal and provincial money accounts for 46 per cent, with a drop from $8.2 million to $7.7 million.
On the expenditure side, here is a breakdown of spending:
• Transportation services – a 3.2 per cent decrease to $8,678,650. It accounts for 56 per cent of the budget.
• Transfers to reserves – a 4.1 per cent increase to $2,142,589. It represents 14 per cent of the budget.
• General government services – a 7.6 per cent increase to $1,480,460 . It makes up nine per cent of the budget.
• Economic development services – a 25 per cent increase to $874,052. It accounts for six per cent of the budget.
• Protective services – a 9.9 per cent increase to $753,111. It represents five per cent of the budget.
• Recreation and cultural services – a 45 per cent increase to $701,561. It makes up four per cent of the budget.
• Fiscal services – a 74 per cent decrease to $288,555. It accounts for two per cent of the budget.
• Environmental health services – a 2.3 per cent decrease to $267,500. It represents two per cent of the budget.
• Public health and welfare services – a 1.1 per cent increase to $152,513. It makes up one per cent of the budget.
• Environmental development services – a 28 per cent decrease to $111,700. It accounts for one per cent of the budget.
In addition to the operating budget, Rhineland council also approved its utilities budget. It forecasts revenue decreasing from $2.7 million to $2.5 million, while expenditures go down from $2.7 to $2.5 million. Significant items here include revenue from water consumer sales of $1,760,000 as well as expenditures for water purchases of $1,124,000.
As well, there is a capital budget of $2,743,710. Major items include the purchase of two new graders and an excavator for $1,176,500, the purchase of land for the Plum Coulee sewage lagoon for $400,000, an Altbergthal bridge study for $300,000 and water line looping work south of Sommerfeld for $180,000.
The municipality had total surplus funds in reserve that started off the year at $8,637,390, and the forecast is for it to be at $7,826,166.
Municipal officials said there are always a wide range of needs to be addressed with the budget, but there is only so much that they can do without putting too much of a burden on ratepayers.
“When we prepare for the budget, there’s always way more on the list that we could be doing, but we have to prioritize what we feel is the most important to do for the coming year,” said Heppner.
“We’re trying to stay ahead of the curve,” noted Wiebe.
