Morinville Council calls special meeting to address budget vote delayed by councilor’s absence

By Colin Smith
Morinville Council was set to hold a special meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 3 to discuss the most recent draft of the 2025 municipal budget.
The draft was presented to Council at its regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 26, but substantial discussion and decision’s were put off because Councillor Scott Richardson was not in attendance.
The issue of his absence was raised by Councillor Ray White, who said he felt all members of Council should be present for the vote on the budget.
Stating that he would be voting against the budget, White declined to debate or propose amendments in case a tie resulted in their defeat.
He then moved to refer the 2025 budget to a future meeting of Council, which was set for Tuesday, December 3 at 2 p.m.
The motion passed in a split vote, with White, Deputy Mayor Rebecca Balanko and Councillors Stephen Dafoe and Maurice St. Denis in favour, and Mayor Simon Boersma and Councillor Jen Anheliger opposed.
Adoption of the draft budget presented at the meeting would result in an estimated property tax increase of 5.82% for next year.
The 2025 tax on an average residential property, valued at $357,391, would be $3,047.54, or $253.96 per month.
Homeowners will be paying $20.16 a month more in tax, or $241.96 annually. The assessed value of the average Morinville home will rise by an estimated $7,148 in 2025 over this year.
For a commercial property assessed at $868,427, the annual tax would be $11,754.60, $979.55 per month.
The tax on a $1,467,820 industrial property would be $19,867.68, $1,655.64.
The original draft of the budget presented in September called for a tax increase of 5.75%, or about $19.95 for a residential property valued at $350,000.
The budget draft presented by the administration to Council at its November 12 meeting would have resulted in an estimated tax increase of 6.32%.
Council decisions at that meeting resulting in expense reductions included removal from the Operating Budget of the water barrel program, $8,000, website management initiative, $30,000, and municipal census, $130,000.
The Facilities Master Plan, previously removed from the budget by council, was reinstated. The plan cost is $130,000.
Replacement of the town’s infrastructure services building, whose deficiencies including structural issues and health and safety concerns have been outlined in several reports, has been the subject of much debate.
Included in Morinville’s long-term capital plan, adopted in 2023, the cost of a new building was initially estimated at $6 million, later revised to $10 million.
A motion pushing back the replacement of the Infrastructure Services Building to 2029 from 2027 was passed by Council at its October 22 meeting, with the design phase set for 2025 at a cost of $600,000 also delayed.
The current budget draft, reflecting the most recent inspection of the Infrastructure Services Building, sees the cost of repairs so it can be used in the interim drop by $314,000, from $564,000 to $250,000.
Considered to need immediate action are HVAC ventilation repairs, $170,000, and improved hazardous materials storage, $80,000.
Another $50,000 has been added to the 2025 Operational Budget to fund studies of the HVAC, roof structural and load capacity and wash bay relocation for the building, as well as a Phase 2 environmental assessment of its site.