(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Crossing the T's and dotting the I's

Shellbrook finalizes budget, residents face tax increase

May 3, 2022 | 11:56 AM

The Town of Shellbrook’s budget, which includes money for a new community safety officer as well as a paving project, was finalized during Monday’s council meeting.

The budget also includes a $50 increase to the base tax applied to every property, raising it to $1,250. There’s also a five per cent increase to the mill rate which now sits at 4.17. Mayor Amund Otterson told paNOW taxes had not been raised for the past three years.

“This is basically a catch up because really you shouldn’t fall behind with the constant rising in inputs like labour, fuel costs for our machinery and certainly without a doubt the cost of the carbon tax,” he said.

A number of big infrastructure projects are included with the budget including a $400,000 paving project.

“I know we are late to the game but we plan to pave about 500m of Second Avenue West and that will complete the paved link from the town core to the hospital,” he explained.

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Another key infrastructure item is a $1.6-million upgrade to the town’s sewer line. The tender has recently gone out and the work should be done this fiscal year.

Another budget highlight is $135,000 for a new community safety officer, who will assist the town by looking after bylaw-related issues such as unsightly yards, or even addressing the people making illegal left hand turns on Main Street.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever cure that chronic disease because you get people who come into town for the first time and I don’t know if they think it’s the wild west but they make a left hand turn and then get parked in there crooked and somebody else comes along and gets backed into,” he said.

It’s expected the person hired will likely start in the last quarter of this fiscal year. Acknowledging how stretched the RCMP are with respect to staffing, Otterson said he thinks this will help improve community safety.

“We sympathize with them, we also get upset when there is a 45-minute response to a 911 call when there is an intruder in your house,” he said.

Tax notices are expected to be delivered soon, and Otterson said there are saving incentives for those ratepayers who pay early.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell