RM of Stanley residents will be receiving higher tax bills this year as part of the municipality’s 2025 budget.
Council gave first reading last Thursday to its new financial plan that increases total operational expenditures to just under $8.4 million from $7.9 million for a six per cent increase.
It will have a varying impact on municipal taxes, with property reassessments also impacting tax bills.
For example, a residential property that has seen its value rise from $276,200 to $319,900 will see its municipal taxes rise by 19.8 per cent to $1,314.
For 40 acres of farmland that has seen its value rise from $465,000 to $528,800, the municipal taxes will rise by 17.6 per cent to $1,255.
And a commercial property that has seen its assessment increase from $866,600 to $984,200 will face a 17.5 per cent increase in municipal taxes to $5,838.
“A lot of that reflects the assessment increases … that’s what it mostly is,” suggested Reeve Ike Friesen.
He added though that the municipality is facing some significant financial pressures with major projects like wastewater treatment.
“We knew there would be a lot of major projects coming forward, and they’re here now … one of them being the wastewater project we are doing with Winkler and then the potential village wastewater project as well in Schanzenfeld and Reinfeld.
“What came up also in the last year was Pembina Valley Water Co-op came to all 14 municipalities asking for additional funding so that they could keep up with their assets and the growth in the area. That’s something we’ve committed to as well, and that’s a fairly large project.”
In addition, there are also other projects such as support for the Boundary Trails Health Centre expansion and the recently announced highway corridor pathway project.
“So we’ve had a lot of extra expenses coming up,” Friesen said. “And everything is just costing more in general.”
The total expenditures for 2025, when you also factor in debt servicing, transfers to reserves and capital transfers in addition to operational spending, increase by just under four per cent from $11.1 to $11.5 million.
The main source of revenue of course is municipal taxes, which are forecast to bring in $1.2 million in extra revenue (16.5 per cent more than last year) for a total of just over $8.5 million.
It is based on a municipal mill rate that increases by 3.5 per cent to 9.126. There is a general mill rate that increases by 6.9 per cent to 7.911 as well as a special service mill rate that decreases by 15 per cent to 1.215.
The next major source of revenue is government grants, which are forecast to decrease by 27 per cent to just over $1.6 million. A significant portion of that drop is a result of a municipal investment grant that was worth $688,000 but is being discontinued.
Here is a breakdown of some of the main areas of expenditures:
• Transportation services: a seven per cent increase to just over $4.3 million.
• Reserve transfer: a 10.7 per cent decrease to about $1.7 million.
• General government services: a three per cent increase to just over $1.3 million.
• Debt servicing: a 17 per cent increase to about $1.2 million.
• Protective services: a three per cent decrease to $729,581.
• Recreation and culture: a nine per cent increase to $585,874.
• Planning and engineering: a 17 per cent increase to $570,244.
• Health and welfare services: a 4.6 per cent increase to $455,778.
• Environmental services: a 15.2 per cent increase $227,000.
• Capital transfers: a 16.6 per cent decrease to $200,000.
• Economic development: just under a one per cent increase to $156,350.
The budget lays out a number of projects and priorities for 2025:
• Additional staff assistance with drainage planning and projects.
• Support for access to recreation facilities in Morden and Winkler.
• Public works equipment upgrades.
• Rural road upgrades.
• New corridor pathway construction, which is a joint project with Morden and Winkler.
• Regional wastewater project with Winkler.
• Sewer service for the corridor
• Village low pressure sewer service.
• Recycling program.
• Boundary Trails Health Centre expansion project support.
Friesen said it overall is a balancing act with the municipality also being impacted by the drop in government funding
“That means it has to come from somewhere else,” he said, adding they also had to increase the utilities budget.
“We had some substantial flooding and we’re somewhat behind with some projects, and we need to move ahead a little quicker on them,” said Friesen. “We feel we’re doing the best we can and putting some money in reserves, but even that we reduced.”
