
Prince Albert Mayor Bill Powalinsky said the focus will be on keeping taxes “as reasonable as possible” while also replenishing reserves when the new city council meets for budget deliberations in January.
According to a press release, the City of Prince Albert would need an additional $8,042,120 in funds from property tax increases to balance the 2025 budget if all items referred to the budget committee throughout the year are approved.
“It’s a goal to try to keep things balanced,” Powalinsky said in an interview with the Daily Herald. “We want to keep taxes as reasonable as possible and we want to make sure that we’re going to replenish some of the reserves that have been depleted. We certainly want to make sure that we can continue to provide levels of service that the public needs.
“We have had strategic plans with each department, with each section, presented and reviewed and we hit the hard part on January 8, 9, and 10 to work through the entire budget.”
The proposed budget includes a $1.2 million increase in funding for the Prince Albert Police Service. It also includes a $1.1 million increase in capital project requests.
The proposed budget also includes more than $1.14 million in operating costs for the new Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre, although the city expects to offset that cost by decommissioning the Frank Dunn Pool and Dave Steuart Arena. That should save the city more than $530,000, meaning the net increase to operation costs will only be around $610,000.
“It’s been a challenging budget year,” City Manager Sherry Person said in a press release. “We prepared a budget that puts forward a realistic account of the projects and services the City of Prince Albert needs to pursue to meet expectations of residents and build a sustainable future for our community.
“As committed, there continues to be no increase within the Budget attributed to funding the land purchases, capital construction, or debt financing for the Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre.”
Powalinsky said city council has had a chance to hear budget presentations and look at the proposed document. When asked if the city has a specific goal when it comes to limiting property tax increases, he said that will be determined during budget deliberations.
“Things increase in price. In order to stay current, and stay even, undoubtedly there is going to be an increase,” Powalinsky said. “What that looks like, at this point, we don’t know. We’ve got several years of lower tax rates that have been good for the public, and now our reserves, some of them have been depleted, so we really need to take a look at how we strike that balance between growth and affordability.”
General fund budget discussions are set for Jan. 8-10, with Sanitation, Utility, Airport, and Land Fund Budget Deliberations scheduled for Jan. 22-23.
Budget talks were delayed this year due to the fall election. Powalinsky said holding budget discussions is not ideal, but he’s looking forward to working with the new council.
“Normally, we would sure like to have our budget in place before the fiscal years starts on Jan. 1, but this year we’ll probably have everything finalized by the end of January,” he said.
“We’re really looking forward to working with the veteran councillors and the new councillors,” he added. “We’ve got both the experience and the fresh eyes, so I think that’s going to be a very positive outcome.”
A link to the proposed budget document is available on the City of Prince Albert website.
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca