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By Chris Brown

Budget 2023 presented to Cypress County council

Nov 23, 2022 | 11:56 AM

DUNMORE, AB – The first budget built following the development and adoption of a 10-year strategic plan has been presented to Cypress County council.

There is no rise in residential property taxes in the draft document but rates for farmland increase six per cent and small business and non-residential rates 12.8 per cent.

The increases are part of the county’s plan to get to the 20th percentile compared to the tax rates of other municipalities and Reeve Dan Hamilton says they are needed. Two years ago the county recognized changes would be needed to maintain the quality of life for residents and sought to minimize drastic increases in taxation levels and/or decreases in services.

“We had to get into that area to make everything stay the same as it is today. That was put in in 2020 and this is just the process over it, it was a five-year plan to come up in increments to get to that point,” he says. “I’m one of the ones that pays the taxes so don’t like to see them go up. But if we’re going to maintain the quality of life that we have today that’s what has to take place in order to maintain everything that’s going on.”

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On its website, the county explains that the “20th percentile means if we compare 100 municipalities: 19 would have a lower tax rate and 80 municipalities would have a higher tax rate.”

Hamilton also points out that the budget has the county putting back just over $1 million in donations and contributions to community organizations and programs such as various family and community support organizations, the agriculture sector and recreation funding.

The document, which will return to council at its next meeting on Dec. 6, covers a three-year period from 2023 to 2026. Economic growth, tourism and public safety are some of the priorities focused on to improve the overall quality of life for residents.