Westlock County’s financial troubles are well-documented, but to put it in such stark terms like deputy reeve Brian Coleman did during council’s last meeting, calling it a “financial crisis,” is a new and somewhat concerning development.
So, how bad is it?
We know that administration approached council late last year with an tentative increase of upwards of 14 per cent to this year’s taxes and council was thankfully able to bring that down to 3.98 per cent, without sacrificing significant service levels. Council also took a hit on their honorariums and expenses, which is a start, but merely a drop in the bucket.
What is really hitting the county hard is the linear tax rate freeze, introduced by the Alberta government in Dec. 2017. It has cost the county hundreds of thousands since then. When assessment year modifiers were frozen the amount of taxes the municipality could collect on linear infrastructure like oil and gas wells, pipelines and telecommunications towers fell to nearly nothing.
It’s an ongoing saga and the county keeps getting hit again and again. They are currently on the hook for the costs of the Echo Lake fire as well as much of the repairs that came as a result of the overland flooding that occurred last spring.
When it’s all said and done this spring and the final numbers from the province are in, can ratepayers expect an even larger than expected increase to their taxes, or will council be able to maintain that 3.98 per cent number?
We don’t know. It’s anybody’s guess until those numbers from the province arrive.
The fact that CAO Leo Ludwig is floating the “viability” word, should be concerning to all area residents as it could fundamentally change the way municipal business is conducted in the region. If the county is no longer viable, what is the next step?
Let’s float another word out there — amalgamation. Is the county in such dire straits that the prospect of amalgamation with the Town of Westlock is starting to look like a plausible idea?
On it’s surface, it seems like the be-all-end-all. A newly blended urban-rural municipality could pool resources on everything from gravelling, to recreation and police services.
We don’t have an answer for Westlock County, it’s just a suggestion, but if we’re really in crisis mode and the viability of the municipality is at stake maybe it’s time to start seriously considering amalgamation.
