The RM of Stanley last week approved a 2026 budget that they see as being a responsible financial plan with relatively minor increases in spending and taxes.
The budget forecasts revenues of $11,940,194, which represents a 3.3 per cent increase from the 2025 budget, while total expenditures come in at $11,988,503, also a 3.3 per cent increase.
The majority of the expenditures fall under operational spending at $8,873,942, which is an increase of 5.7 per cent from $8,395,261 in 2025. The remainder includes $1.7 million in transfers to reserves and debt servicing costs of just over $1 million along with almost $260,000 in transfers to capital.
Reeve Ike Friesen believes the rise in both spending and taxes is reasonable in the current economic climate.
“As we know, everything is increasing in cost, and it has been in the last four or almost five-year period, and we see very well how it has been increasing,” he said. “It includes things like our fuel costs being higher and gravel, and of course gravel also includes freight expenses which is fuel again, and there are also the labour costs. In general, everything is up.
“Our mill rate has increased just 3.02 per cent, which is what we were hoping to stay at, not more than that,” he added. “And that’s even with putting some money into reserves. That is something important to us that we try to do just to keep up with our asset management moving ahead so that we don’t find big expenses in certain years … we build for it.
“And if we look at our borrowing, our lending is down by the end of the year. We’ll be down by $700,000,” Friesen noted. “Our borrowing capacity is a lot more than we are using, and we don’t ever want to be using that much either.
“So I think we’re in a good place,” he said. “It’s not a reassessment year, so we don’t have new assessment. It’s just the growth of our municipality where our revenue has increased slightly.”
The municipal mill rate has been set at 9.402, which is an increase of 3.02 per cent from 2025.
The impact on the municipal taxes will of course vary, but here are a few examples:
• A residential property assessed at $319,900 will pay $40 more with a total of $1,354.
• A residential property assessed at $389,700 will pay $49 more with a total of $1,649.
• Forty acres of farmland assessed at $528,800 will pay $38 more with a total of $1,293.
• One-hundred and sixty acres of farmland assessed at $828,500 will pay $59 more with a total of $2,025.
• One-hundred and sixty acres of farmland assessed at $2,001,700 will pay will pay $143 more with a total $4,893.
• A commercial property assessed at $984,200 will pay $177 more with a total with a total of $6,015.
• A commercial property assessed at $4,221,400 will pay $930 more with a total of $25,798.
On the revenue side of the budget, 74 per cent comes through municipal taxes at over $8.7 million. Another 24 per cent comes from other revenue sources at $2.99 million—the main source here is government grants, which are budgeted at about $1.6 million, a 2.8 per cent increase from 2025. Another two per cent is from reserve transfers at just over $259,000.
Expenditures on the operational side of the budget include:
• Transportation services: 51 per cent of the budget with a six per cent increase to $4,592,000.
• General government services: 17 per cent of the budget with a 11 per cent increase to $1,522,000.
• Protective services: eight per cent of the budget with a four per cent increase to $762,000.
• Planning and engineering: seven per cent of the budget with an 11 per cent increase to $635,000.
• Recreation and culture: almost seven per cent of the budget with about a two per cent increase to $596,000.
• Health and welfare services: five per cent of the budget with a five per cent decrease to $433,278.
• Environmental services: three per cent of the budget with a nine per cent increase to $247,000.
• Economic development: one per cent of the budget with a 41 per cent decrease to $91,000.
In terms of capital projects, the RM’s to-do list includes hard surfacing of 200 metres of Road 26W in the Stanley corridor at $170,000 and hard surfacing of 800 metres of Icon Drive, with the work being cost shared with City of Winkler at $433,000.
Other 2026 capital projects include a regional marketing project, Pembina Valley regional airport master plan, concept development plans for Reinfeld and Schanzenfeld, public works costs including a grader, loader, mower and trucks ($1.042 million).
In terms of infrastructure, there is a Friedensruh sidewalk and the final half of the contribution to the Stanley pathway. Water utility projects include the annual water meter replacement program, Reinfeld water infrastructure study, and rural water line extensions.
“There’s nothing big that we’re doing,” noted Friesen. “There’s just small road upgrades that we’re planning to do, so we’re not taking on any big initiatives right now.
“Maintenance is our big one. We know that the roads will get soft again this year, as they have the last couple years. We’re in a bit of a wetter time on the cycle of weather, and that’s how roads get soft, so we do need to do more to maintain them, so we put a bit more into the gravel and road maintenance. But other than that, it’s a basic operating budget with nothing big.
“We have some longer term commitments that will be coming off in the next year or two,” he added. “One would be the Pembina Valley Water Co-op contribution that we have committed to, and there is also the hospital expansion, support for the clinics.”
