The largest capital costs include Heritage Park upgrades, and a new garbage truck and bins. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Municipal Budget

Air Ronge 2019 budget brings no mill rate or tax increases

Jun 25, 2019 | 5:47 PM

There will be no changes to the mill rate or any other taxes in Air Ronge after council approved its 2019 operating and capital budget at its June 19 meeting.

“Last year, the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency did a general reassessment on all of the properties in Air Ronge and some of the properties were not accessed properly,” Mayor Gordon Stomp said. “There is an appeal process on now where some properties will see increases, and it’s because they never been on the tax roll before for things like additions to your house or things that weren’t done through the office properly or whatever.”

There are two large projects on the books for Air Ronge including improvements to Heritage Park, as well as paying the remainder due for a garbage truck with a mechanical arm, along with 400 new bins. As for the $200,000 budgeted for Heritage Park, Stomp stated there will soon be major landscaping including the removal of tree stumps. The site will eventually include a 16-foot by 30-foot gazebo to be used as a gathering place.

The project is being assisted by an instructor and students from Northlands College who are creating a 3D site plan for Heritage Park. It will determine, for example, what volume of fill the park will need to be level and provide accurate measurements for development.

“We’ve been very fortunate to get some support from Northlands College students and the professor teaching the course,” Stomp said. “It’s fantastic. That will give us an idea to get our base work done, then we will have to bring in fill and do a cover on top with decent compaction fill.”

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Another $24,000 was budgeted for the Air Ronge marina, which is a sizable increase compared to $810 in 2018 and $1,152 in 2017. Stomp mentioned workers are always making improvements at the marina like applying sand to the beach and maintaining the parking lot, turn around and boat launch. He also noted dead trees were removed from the playing area recently to avoid injuries due to falling debris.

As for the new garbage truck, Stomp said it’s currently in the process of being delivered to Air Ronge and is expected to arrive any day. The budget includes $173,000 as a final payment for the truck and bins, which originally cost close to $340,000.

“The new garbage truck and the containers began last year,” he said. “Our truck is apparently finished and it’s somewhere and it should be here any day. We will have to pay off the remainder of that debt.”

Stomp expects 2019 to end with a balanced budget with a small surplus.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno