Following months of drafts and revisions, Dryden city council approved the 2011 capital and operating budget at a special meeting of council on April 4.With all in favour of the budget with the exception of councillor Mike Wood, the budget was passed.“I’m still not in favour of the five per cent increase across the board, but I see they are going to look at some of the fees,” says Mayor Craig Nuttall. Some of the revisions incurred in the last two weeks included a $36,000 decrease in the Northwest Health Unit Levy and a $36,000 reduction in the Final Levy for Home for Aged.The third revision in the budget was a point of contention for most councillors, which was to remove the Norwill Subdivision and Centennial capital projects for 2011 subject to property being sold.  This cut comes into the Long Term Debt in the amount of $560,000.Wood commented that he does not agree with the funding being cut for Norwill Subdivision and the Centennial Business Park and for that reason, would be voting against the budget, even though he is in agreement with it overall.The Dryden Development Corporation budget was cut by $100,000, and a decrease in the training budget was seen at $42,000.Various capital and fleet equipment was cut from long-term debt, including the ice re-surfacer, which has a lead time of one year for purchase, and will be looked at in the 2012 budget.  Other items included moving the new tractor and attachments at $40,000 as well as the new HVAC system for the airport at $57,200, out of long-term debt, and see the expense from the tax base instead.Most service and user fees will be increased by five per cent, including sewer, water, and recreation fees.  The exception will be in waste disposal which will see a 10 per cent increase.The pool will see an additional expense of $10,000 due to a faulty and inaccurate water meter needing replacement, as well as a $20,000 increase to the budget for a Workwell Audit of the Health and Safety Programs within the city.Following a request by the city to remove an additional $100,000 from the Dryden Police Service budget, the revisions will include a reduction of $38,500 made in the operating budget, and a $50,000 decrease for the police prisoner van.The child care budget shortfall will cost the city $129,600 and tax increases are determined to be 2.8 per cent municipally.  With the lowering of the school taxes for this year, the overall tax increase to residents will be approximately 2.2 per cent.“Any increase in taxes is not the best thing since sliced bread because I’m not in favour of increasing taxes more than one per cent, or 1.8 per cent,” says Nuttall.  “The people I talked to are the older people that say ‘Listen, I’m on a fixed income.’  Sure, it may only cost an extra $35 per $100,000, but then there’s your user fees, such as garbage tags and things like that that we have to pay extra.  When you look at the sewer and water charges, I know it has to be self-sufficient, but that’s about $1,200 a year and that’s a lot of money.  That used to be all included in our taxes.”
By Ally Dunham