Bonnyville faces budget deficit

The Town of Bonnyville has wrapped up another major step in its budgetary process. 

The town held their open house on Dec. 3, giving an overview of the specifics they are grappling with in the budget.

Renee Stoyles, interim CAO, Town of Bonnyville, made the presentation. 

Currently, to help balance the budget, a proposed tax increase of 2 per cent has been recommended along with a 2 per cent utility increase.

In 2025 the Town of Bonnyville has $31,668,772 in revenue with $33,479,373 for an operating budget deficit of $1,810,601.

The operating budget outlines several priorities including economic growth, value-added services, recreation and wellness, service excellence and communication strategy.

Council priority for economic growth - Sports tourism strategy in progress, approval of the commercial gap analysis, attendance at local trade fairs, sponsorship for events such as student trade fair, family fun day and rodeo, completion of municipal census and approval of build Bonnyville incentive bylaw.

Highlights of recreation and wellness include the Lakeshore Drive recreation master plan in progress, winter fun day, grant application for the future aquatic facility and winter amenities.

The town's online presence has also been expanded through an online events calendar, increase social media presence, economic development newsletter and use of social media to distribute public information.

In value-added services, Bonnyville installed banners on Main St. for community groups and completed multiple pick-up programs.

Service excellence continues to be upheld in the town. Council’s strategic priorities were reviewed and updated in October; ongoing professional development opportunities were offered to staff, emergency management functional exercises were completed and the borderlands emergency management mutual aid agreement was signed. Bonnyville also became a member of the inter-municipal subdivision and development appeal board and joint assessment review board.

Some budget factors include reserve transfers for future equipment purchases that have escalated due to the current cost of equipment and an increase in insurance of 5 per cent. Bonnyville currently employs 60 full-time staff, 33 part-time staff, and 11 summer students (not including police, fire and EMS)

Salaries and benefits total 22.8 per cent of the operating budget for a total cost of $7,317,943. An increase in requests from community organizations totals $620,000. 

General government services are forecasted to net $611,312. 

Council and legislative costs are expected to decrease 13.98 per cent to $568,957 due to the reallocation of community organization requests to general government services

Administration net costs are forecasted to be just above $1.5 million increasing by 0.4 per cent due to additional cost of postage and the purchase of cyber security software.  

Protective services is forecasted to go up 6.62 per cent at $1,984,922. The net cost of the fire service is expected to be $717,132 an increase of 24.15 per cent. Contracted costs from the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority increased $48,118. Insurance costs are also expected to increase 5 per cent over the 2024 amount. The 911 dispatch centre costs are also projected to rise to $194,352 an increase of 13.92 per cent. For disaster services, the forecasted cost is $23,000.

Within the bylaw department, Bonnyville added a second community peace officer, bringing the departments forecasted cost to $251,539.

Transportation saw an increase of nearly 15 per cent to just over $2.6 million. 

“Cold mix repairs increased due to a higher cost of materials and the transfer to reserve for future capital equipment,” said Stoyles. 

Notably, the Wastewater Department is expected to generate $704,390 in revenue. While the solid waste department is forecasted to bring in $527,424 in revenue. 

The town’s also added a development technician position bringing the projected cost of the Planning and Development department to $278,699.

Recreation will cost the city just over $1 million with most of that due to the operating grants to the Centennial Centre. 

The 2025 budget also includes a contingency of $400,000 for any unforeseen expenses. 

“So, our next steps for the operating budget is to get public input tonight. For council to adopt the interim operating budget on Dec. 10. Our annual assessments are received in February 2025, final budget changes and approvals will be done in April of 2025. The tax rate bylaw will be completed in May 2025 and taxes will be due June 30, 2025,” said Stoyles.

Within the capital budget there are a number of highlights including, over $14 million to complete infrastructure upgrades on roads, purchase of land for a snow dump area and intersection upgrades. A new FCSS building will cost Bonnyville $6 million. The library will also see an expansion valued at $1,500,000. The total capital budget expenses are $36,779,324.

Administration provided a number of options to help balance the budget. An increase of property taxes by 2 per cent, reducing requests from organizations, deferring hiring of positions, funding the remainder of the deficit from reserves or balancing with a bigger tax increase are all options provided. The additional tax would be in the ballpark of 9.89 per cent generating $838,869.

In terms of the distribution of tax dollars, the biggest pieces of the pie are protective services at 33 per cent and public works at 25 per cent.

The deficit in the capital budget is $17,279,304 and administration has recommended deferring a number of projects to help reduce the deficit. A total of 10 projects have been recommended for deferral which would reduce the deficit by $16,507,000 leaving a remaining deficit of $722,304 which then could be funded from the general capital reserve. 

A public question asked if it would be possible to pay a higher tax increase over the next few years as opposed to a small tax increase over many years. 

“We will look at everything and take everything under consideration in the next week before we pass the interim as well as the next two or three months before we pass the final,” Stoyles.

Council will look to adopt the interim operating budget Dec. 10. 

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