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Flin Flon property tax will decrease in 2018-19

Proposed 2018 budget just under $13.3 million
budget18

A decrease in the mill rate means property owners will see modest savings on their tax bill for 2018.

The City of Flin Flon reduced its mill rate by 2.65 mills this year. When combined with the school mill rate, the residential mill rate has decreased 1.92 mills from 2017. This translates to savings of about $24 on a house assessed at $50,000 to savings of about $172 on a house assessed at $200,000.

The budget reflects that 38.73 per cent of the city’s revenue in 2018 will come from the tax levy, down from about 39 per cent in 2017.

Coun. Colleen McKee, finance chair for the City of Flin Flon, addressed council chambers as the budget was unveiled on May 15.

“I hope you will be as pleased with this presentation and this budget as we are,” said McKee.

“I think our administrative staff and all of our staff have worked very, very hard to get to where it is, and I think this is the first time in a long time that we have some positive news, and I feel like we’re turning the corner.”

The 2018 budget shows a $149,416 decrease in expenditures over the 2017 budget, though Lyn Brown, treasurer for the City of Flin Flon noted expenditures in 2017 came in under budget by about $357,000 in that year.

“The actual 2017 expenditures came in slightly under budget, with the most significant decrease to capital expenditures,” explained Brown.

“What has happened, really, is we took some of the capital with what we had planned to do in 2017, and whether it was due to the shortness of the year, the weather … we moved them in 2018 to continue as work in progress activities.”

Brown listed the example of renovations to the community hall washrooms. The renovations were budgeted for 2017, begun in late 2017 and finished in 2018.

The city expects a total revenue of just under $13.3 million. The budget shows a decrease in revenue of just under $646,000 from municipal taxes and grants in lieu of taxes – the city will draw over $4.6 million in grants in lieu of taxes, a significant amount of which will come from Hudbay – from 2017. However, the budget shows about a $428,000 increase in other revenue, including the sale of goods and services, conditional grants and transfers from reserves. Brown noted that actual revenue from the city’s recreation facilities saw an increase over what was budgeted in 2017, and expects that trend to continue.

“What we see is an expectation of continued increased use of our facilities, because we haven’t increased fees recently – we did some increase with the Whitney Forum but it was after we had finished the budget,” said Brown.

“From what I can see, [the increase in revenue] is from an increase in those facilities. My expectation is we’ll continue with that.”

Transportation tops the list of service expenditures for the city in 2018, making up over 28% of service costs. Transportation includes road and sidewalk maintenance, snow removal, bridges, street lighting and public transit. The city plans to spend just under $3 million on transportation, along with about $2.4 million on recreation and culture and $2 million on protective services. Development, which includes items such as economic development and urban renewal, will receive a little more than $434,000 in 2018.

Utility upgrades and maintenance of critical assets including the No. 1 heating plant and reservoir top the nearly $1.3 million capital budget. Included in the budget is funding for the bus garage, upgrades to the sites and electrical at the tourist bureau, and upgrades in lighting at the community hall, as well as fencing upgrades at the landfill.

The budget is expected to come back for final approval during the June 5 meeting of council.

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