Sparwood District Council members discussed the draft 2024-2028 Financial Plan’s operating budget, which came with a proposed tax increase of 8.5 per cent.
“An 8.5 per cent increase equals about $374,000 in operational spending in 2024,” said Mayor David Wilks. “It covers the general operations for the District throughout the next year, projects each department wants to move forward with and general running of the town.”
According to council documents, the tax hike would translate to a rise of $74.38 for a residential property assessed at $385,000.
Wilks said Sparwood’s operational budget for 2024 is projected to be just over $23 million.
“Staff has done an exceptional job trying to keep it as low as they can,” said Wilks.
Wilks said the budget has not had any big surprises, but it still had some difficulty.
“We’re on track for what we normally spend operationally. Certainly, inflation has been a challenge this year for everyone, and we’re no exception to that,” said Wilks.
The budget will soon go out for public comment before its due date on May 15.
“Our budget must balance to zero, so what we take from the public must be spent to zero, and we can’t go into debt,” said Wilks.