Lacombe City Council held a regular scheduled meeting of Council on April 23rd.
Financial Services
Council was presented the City of Lacombe’s 2017 Audited Financial Statement. Council adopted the financial statement base don the clean audit.
Property Tax:
Council gave first and second reading to Bylaw 451, which the City must adopt in accordance with the Municipal Government Act in order to levy taxes in the City of Lacombe. Council was able to maintain a 1.3 per cent property tax increase. The third and final reading will be consider on May 14th.
2018 Operating Budget:
Administration presented Council with the final amendments to this year’s budget, which included increased revenue and additional expenditures. The budget was approved with the amendments
2017 Operating Surplus Allocation:
Administration presented an overview of the items including in the $697,357 surplus, as of Dec. 31st. Council directed the reserves as follows: $104,909 to General Capital; $192,963 to the Lacombe Police Service; $318,734 to the water system; and $130,741 to the wastewater system.
Council also directed $130,741 to the outstanding loan from Bylaw 427, which was used to fund the purchase of the sewage lagoon covers. This advanced the debt-servicing schedule.
Council, finally, approved the funding for the solid waste reserve which covers the deficit in the solid waste utility for a coast of $49,991.
Community Services
The FCR rood has been leaking for seven months as a result of a hail storm back in 2015.
The City’s insures as declined coverage due to an expired timeline.
Council approved the budget allocation of $350,000 to facilitate the replacement of the curling rink roof in 2018.
Administration will investigate through a competitive process and devise recommended methods to cover the cost.
Council and Legislative
Strategic Plan:
Council directed Administration to incorporate the following items into the strategic plan: add train whistle cessation as a goal; increase priority of streets, crosswalk infrastructure; re-prioritize development of healthy retail sector to low; address drainage issues; and prioritize bylaw service level review.
The amended Strategic Plan will be considered at the regular Council meeting on May 28th, 2018.
-Submitted by the City of Lacombe