Following the provincial budget cuts, municipalities have been forced to make some changes to their finances including the City of Lacombe.

On November 12th the City of Lacombe Councillors were prepared to adopt a new operating budget at city council but after a bit more consideration the council decided to rework that budget altogether.

City council adjusted their operating budget so that Lacombe citizens would see a tax increase of 1.4% which would be about $5.25 per month for the average household. Council made this budget with the goal in mind, to align the tax rate and cost of living adjustments to the Alberta Consumer Price Index that currently sits at 1.4%.

After a couple of budget workshops and much consideration Councillor, Reuben Konnik was not prepared to accept the new operating budget without weighing out all the options. Konnik challenged the council to come back with three different scenarios that incorporate a 0% tax increase before the city decides to accept the budget that was already prepared.

“I think it’s high time that we at least try to take a look at a 0% tax increase. It is certainly doable,” said Konnik.

Many of Lacombe’s services and different community groups will still see substantial financial cuts with the budget that has already been prepared. A 0% tax increase could threaten the way those organizations and services are run with further cuts. However, Konnik doesn’t want to interfere with that.

“I don’t think there are more cuts that need to be made. I just said at the meeting that I think we can shave our COL (cost of living) a little bit and I think we can transfer a little bit less to our reserves but those are just my suggestions,” said Konnik who doesn’t want to see changes to service levels.

City of Lacombe Mayor, Grant Creasey believes that we may not have seen the end of provincial budget cuts and the council will be taking that into account.

“It would be foolish of a person to expect that we’ve seen the last of the cuts and I think that we can prepare ourselves for additional trimming at least in the short term,” said Creasey.

In the end, it seems that the City of Lacombe will be weighing out all options heading forward to ensure the best scenario for Lacombe’s future, citizens, and services. Council will come prepared with different operating budget scenarios at the next council meeting on November 25th which begins at 5:00 PM.