Clearwater County has approved a new operating and capital budget for 2025 following the amalgamation of Caroline which took effect on New Year’s Day.
With the former village now rolled in, the county has budgeted for operating expenses of $58,526,846, and capital costs of $85,634,479.
Financial Services Manager Rhonda Serhan said it’s set to be a “big year” for capital projects with some significant spending on the docket.
Notably, she says the county plans to spend nearly $44 million on the county’s broadband connectivity project, 66 per cent of which the county will get back in provincial and federal grant money.
She adds, there are also some priorities for the newly formed hamlet of Caroline, including further discussions about a trail surrounding the community.
Other projects include:
2025 Capital Projects key highlights:
• General Road Infrastructure: $6,914,560
• Asphalt Overlay: $5,567,000
• Bridges: $8,328,500
• Recreation: $450,000
• Nordegg Development: $10,097,546
• Broadband: $43,675,676
During December budget deliberations, Clearwater County Reeve Michelle Swanson said there were a pair of capital projects that forced some last-minute amendments to the budget.
The projects in question were the proposed central waste transfer station north of Rocky Mountain House, and a heated storage facility. Originally slated for 2025, these projects were deferred to 2026 following further discussion, allowing the rest of the budget to be approved without issue, she says.
The costs for the heated storage project was citied at around $6 million. Around $275,000 was proposed for the waste transfer project, which would fund detailed design of the project, as preliminary engineering has already been completed.
The two projects were again debated on Jan. 7, but ultimately remain out of the 2025 budget. Serhan says it was these two projects that lowered capital spending to $86.5 million down from the $91 million projected before Christmas.
The former village projected its 2025 operating costs at $1,275,003, and the capital budget at $664,448. Serhan says the county will take a look at those numbers.
“There’s 383 tax rolls in Caroline, so it’s not a huge geographic area,” says Serhan. “We’d expect operations to be around $1.2 million.”
She says an assessment of property tax revenue within the new municipality is set to be completed by the end of February, with the tax rate bylaw set to be reviewed by council in the spring.
The 2025 budget passed in December anticipated a 16.9 per cent increase in tax revenue, primarily driven by the expansion of the assessment base following the conclusion of the provincial three-year tax holiday for designated industrial properties.
Around the county, Swanson adds she looks forward to the ongoing development of Nordegg. Despite a large capital investment, Swanson says much of that will likely be engineering and planning work, as opposed to shovels in the ground. However, she adds the county will be in the community for further public engagement.
The previously approved 2025 operating budget, which was debated Dec. 20, 2024, comprised of operating expenses of $57,251,843 (not including amortization), and capital expenses totaling $84,970,031, with $48,265,346 of restricted funds allocated for capital projects.
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