Administrators and Council have put together a prelinary 2023 budget for the Town of Altona that Mayor Harv Schroeder says meets the needs of the community amid rising inflation, while keeping tax increases as low as possible.
"(We) met on February 21st. We had a really good meeting with lots of conversation and discussion," he explained. "Council has added their input and a few changes were made."
Despite high inflation, Schroeder says the group was able to come up with a financial plan that kept tax increases relatively low without reducing services.
"This is, in part, due to a surplus in 2022 created by supply chain issues, a limited availability for some capital purchases that were planned and could not be completed in the Public Works and Utilities department. That money was re-allocated in the 2023 budget."
Meantime, 2023 is reassessment year and with that, Schroeder says most properties will see an increase in value, which would already translate to bigger tax bills.
While he wasn't prepared to provide an early glimpse as to what the Town's contribution to any tax increases would ultimately be, Schroeder pointed out there were zero hikes in two of the last three years and one year where the increase was just over three per cent.
"Looking back, we're doing what we can with the funds that are the tax payers', and we're trying to do the best to make this community grow," he noted.
An outline of the proposed budget will be made available ahead of the scheduled financial plan public hearing scheduled for March 28th.