Ratepayers in the Rural Municipality of Ritchot can expect to see a higher tax bill in 2025.
Mayor Chris Ewen says Council has approved its 2025 financial plan. The total municipal tax levy is $19.75 million. Of that, the RM portion is $7.67 million, while the education portion is $12.08 million.
Ewen says for 2025, Council decided to leave the mill rate unchanged. However, because this was a reassessment year, taxes are going up due to increased assessment. The increase will be between seven and 25 per cent, depending on the reassessed value of the property. This works out to between $90 and $300 per ratepayer.
"It's a well-rounded budget and it's nice to see the mill rate stay the same," adds Ewen.
Ewen says ever since he first became Mayor back in 2017, it has been his priority to make sure the mill rate does not go up in Ritchot. He notes the strong building activity each year in the municipality is allowing them to keep the mill rate status quo.
Meanwhile, Ewen says two new initiatives highlight their 2025 budget. First of all, he says they are introducing an Animal Control Officer (ACO). Earlier this month, the municipality announced that due to a recent increase in dog attacks, they are hiring Rural Animal Management Services (RAMS) on a two-year contract.
The other new initiative could see the hiring of a Community Safety Officer (CSO). Ewen says most of Council has been pushing for this for the last year or two.
"They're not looking at ripping tickets to everybody, that's not really what our mandate is going to be for this officer," explains Ewen.
Rather, he says the CSO will drive around educating the public about things like road restrictions and making sure that bylaws are being followed.
"It's going to be a well-rounded position, where these officers can go in and alleviate some of the stresses that we're seeing from ratepayers, from bylaw officers, and everything in between," he adds.
Ewen says Ritchot has been hearing the success stories from neighbouring municipalities that have hired a CSO.
"Our CAO has been doing interviews with neighbouring municipalities to understand the position exactly," he says. "People are using them for different reasons. Some are using them for infractions and some are using them for education. We want a bit of a blend."
Ewen says they want to make sure that complaints from the public are handled properly, whether that be motorists who are not following road restrictions or animal owners who are not taking care of their dog's litter in a park.
"We want to make the community a little bit safer," he says. "A little bit more comfortable and a lot more pleasant for our residents."
Meanwhile, Ewen says unfortunately not one resident showed up to their financial plan public hearing. Ewen says as an advocate for transparency and communication, he wants to make sure that residents who are concerned with their taxes attend financial plan hearings in order to provide input to Council.