After hearing from the residents of the Town of Blackfalds, they have put the final stamp of approval on their 2019 budget.

Taxes will increase by 1.5% which is lower than the Consumer Price Index for Alberta. The money will go to new development, equipment and vehicle purchases, development projects for growth and maintenance of the existing asset.

Mayor Richard Poole said they had Alberta’s economy, as well as Blackfalds growing population in mind when creating their three and ten-year plans.

“We recognize that this is a hard economic time and we didn’t do it easily awe are well below the cost of living index which is right now about 2.4% and has been averaging between two and three for the last six months.”

They have about $78 million worth of projects that will take place over the next ten years that focus heavily on potential growth and investing into the community.

  • The key projects in this year’s budget include:
  • Protective Services
  • Next phase Solar Energy program.
  • East Railway Street Upgrade continuation.
  • Athletic Park master plan continuation.
  • East Area Storm System and Wetlands
  • Vehicular wayfinding signage project.

“It will be a busy year ahead, as usual, we don’t have as many projects as we normally do and our capital budget is down approximately four million from last year,” says Poole.