The 2025 draft budget has been presented to council, shedding light on spending in city hall.
The process of preparing the budget first began with public consultations. A survey was open for nine weeks with four in-person engagement activities leading to 500-plus conversations and 314 completed surveys.
The annual budget, as prepared by city administration, outlines the efforts staff have made to have a balanced budget.
“The city, over the last number of years, has gone department by department asking them to look at their budgets, look at their staffing requirements, their purchasing needs to stretch the dollars as best we can,” said Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers.
There are some cost drivers the city has no control over.
“Additionally, retroactive pay for the RCMP, is totally out of control of the city through our municipal policing service agreement with the RCMP,” said Aalbers.
Total revenues in 2025 are projected to be just over $110 million while expenses are projected to be just short of $110 million.
In terms of expenses, Lloydminster will spend a staggering $43.8 million in just salaries, roughly 40 per cent of total expenses the city will incur. The city employs 460 employees throughout the year with 312 of those being full-time.
In terms of some department specifics, the fire service leads the way with $5.2 million in total salaries and benefits. The parks department spends $2.7 million on salaries and benefits, followed by aquatic centres at $2.3 million and the Servus Sports Centre at $2.2 million.
The other major expense the city incurs annually is contracted services, projected to cost $27.3 million.
They will also be paying $4 million in bank charges this upcoming year.
On the revenue side of things, the city will collect just shy of $50 million in municipal taxes next year. The other large portion of their revenue comes from user fees and the sale of goods.
Every year the city takes from reserves to help fund projects, and in 2025, the total transfer back to reserves is projected to be $13.9 million.
The proposed tax increase for next year sits at 4.5 per cent, while in 2026, Lloydminster residents could be facing a tax increase of 9.2 per cent. All tax increases are subject to council approval.
Lloydminster funds a variety of community programs every year. The full list of funding requests can be found on the City of Lloydminster’s website. Of note, the request from Border Paws for the upcoming year was $400,000 while $81,182 is in the budget for the organization. The most notable item is the library receiving just shy of $1.5 million in funding. Earlier this year the library went from being on a provincial system to being managed by the municipality. In total, just over $2.1 million is being given to community groups.
Some key projects the city is tackling this upcoming year include upgrades at the Russ Robertson, specifically a cement pad replacement. They are also tackling lagoon desludging, 12 St. and 75 Ave. street improvements, various street improvement programs, landfill operations building, entrance and scale house among other projects.
In terms of protective services, the RCMP is adding two new members to its capacity costing just under $900,000. The fire service is looking to re-certify an apparatus giving it another 10 years of life.
For transportation services, in the capital plan, the city is looking to spend $8.6 million total in 2025 jumping in 2026 to $35.8 million.
“The ask would be to deal with continuous road improvements, it’s called the street improvement program as it’s tied to other major roadworks,” said Aalbers.
For social programs, Lloydminster will be spending over $1.3 million. In planning and economic development, the operating expenses are just under $3.8 million. Recreation and culture expenses are projected to be $23.9 million. In planning and economic development for land, $1.1 million will be spent. In environmental services, operating expenses will reach $30 million in 2025.
The full budget document along with breakdowns of each department’s spending can be found at the City of Lloydminster’s website.
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