The Town of Rocky Mountain House has released its financial report for the year ending December 31, 2023 for public consumption.
Financial position
Operating costs for the year were around $21.8 million against revenue which was around $22.8 million, equating to a $956,000 end-of-year surplus.
The report shows the Town ending 2023 with over $20 million dollars in net financial assets.
Those include cash, investments and land held for resale value.
That number is expected to increase over the next several years, the report says, when the $31 million new wastewater treatment plant is added to tangible assets following completion.
Revenues were $1 million more than 2022 thanks to higher interest rates, a post-pandemic increase to user fees & sales, permits & licenses and franchise fees, and a 2 per cent property tax increase which brought in $190,000 in revenue alone.
(Photo by the Town of Rocky Mountain House)
Tax levy and mill rates
The report shows the average tax levy per capita was $1807, based on a population of 6,765. Taxes levies per dwelling was $3905 based on 3,131 dwellings.
2023 saw marginal decreases to mill rates across the board.
Planning and development
The report shows there were a total of 575 business licenses in the town of Rocky Mountain House in 2023.
The year also saw 92 new development permits including two large, new highway commercial buildings, and the $31 million new wastewater treatment plant.
84 new building permits were issued, valued at nearly $2.5 million for residential, $4.5 million for commercial/ industrial, and over $5 million for government/ institutional.
Town council
The report shows over $246,000 was spent on honorariums, benefits and allowances for members of town council.
Mayor Debbie Baich made a salary of $51,000.
Councillor Len Phillips made the most at $42,020, with former councillor Shane Boniface making the least at $21,845.
Boniface resigned as councillor November 7, 2023.
CAO Dean Krause made a salary of $210,434.
Engineering & operations
Additionally, the report show engineering and public works had a busy year maintaining 56 kilometers (km) of paved roads and 17 km of trails.
The Town also maintained 21 parks and 275 acres of greenspace.
Engineering used over 37,000 litres of diesel fuel and 31,000 litres of gasoline.
The report shows the Town also maintains 505 km of watermains and 54 km of sanitary sewer mains.
Nearly 850,000 kilograms (kg) of garbage was collected, 154,000 kg of recycling, along with 554,000 kg of compostable materials.
–
READ MORE:
Rocky’s Green Bin composting program sees success in reducing waste
Town of Rocky Mountain House opts-in to provincially-mandated waste collection guidelines
–
The report shows the Rocky airport had over 4,054 arrivals and 4,055 departures in 2023.
Read the full report here.
Comments