Council will discuss the draft budget April 14 and 15. (Colin Ratushniak/Facebook)

By Derek Cornet

Municipal matters

Draft Town of La Ronge budget calls for no taxes or utility increases

Apr 10, 2021 | 8:00 AM

The 2021 Town of La Ronge budget, which is set to be deliberated upon next week, calls for a zero per cent increase in taxes and utility charges.

The document also states the municipality currently has a positive cash flow with several term investments totalling $11 million. In 2020, the finance department operated with $9.62 million in revenue with a $9.56 million expenditure. The budget is yet to be adopted by La Ronge leadership.

“It’s a piece that went out to the public almost a full week before we start talking about it,” La Ronge Mayor Colin Ratushniak said. “We just got it last night and it was just delivered to the rest of council today, which is a change in how we typically do this with our continued push for transparency.”

There are a number of capital purchases in the budget and administration is reporting the town is in a favourable position to have grants cover 70 per cent of those expenditures. For instance, the La Ronge Airport requires a new loader, sweeper and plow truck at the cost of approximately $630,000, which should be 100 per cent covered through Transport Canada’s Airport Capital Assistance Program. Another $50,000 could be spent on a new half-ton truck for the airport.

An additional $118,000 was also spent on a replacement Zamboni, which is expected to arrive by the end of July. Another $65,000 is earmarked for a special project with the Boreal Outdoor Recreation association valued at $240,000, but that money is dependant on the approval of federal funds that have been so far denied.

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“It’s a sizable amount of money I don’t think the taxpayers can pay into, so we definitely want the federal government to approve it and that way we can continue with the whole picture of what we want to see moving forward into 2021,” Ratushniak said.

An additional $100,000 was forwarded from the 2020 budget for the uniplex feasibility study and parks master plan, while another $266,000 is set aside for walking paths. Those funds will pay for 660 metres of walkway near the La Ronge Post Office, Hilderbrand Drive and Backlund Street. Those costs are estimated at $25 per square foot.

A new garbage truck has also been purchased for $270,000 and security cameras are also going up around the town shop and Ice Wolves Den for $38,000. Three Kubotas are up for replacement at the estimate cost of $32,000 and about $12,000 has been allocated for new council laptops.

“My initial read-through of it is it seems to be a substantial outline of what we need and what we require,” Ratushniak said. “I really want to push people to tune in when we start going through deliberations so everyone does understand the sort of decisions we have to go through when this goes through.”

The public can view the 2021 Town of La Ronge draft budget here.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno