Niverville residents will see increase in 2024 tax bill

Niverville residents can expect a slight increase in their 2024 tax bill.  

At last week’s town council meeting, Councillor's gave 2nd and 3rd readings of the 2024 Financial Plan for Niverville.  

Chief Administrative Officer for the town noted that there would be a 2.5% increase on the average house in Niverville, which means $52.89 for the average house assessed at $324,700.  

Mayor Myron Dyck gives residents a bit of perspective on what that means.  

“We recognize that taxes are something that no one ever likes to see on the increase, however we're seeing significant, and into the double digit, increases in a lot of the major cities across the province.”  

Dyck notes cities like Calgary, Toronto and even Brandon may need to consider a 10% increase in taxes to cover deficiencies, but not so in Niverville. He adds, 

“So, we've tried to be mindful of inflation, and we will be doing fewer projects than last year because of the increase in costs due to inflation. And we are especially mindful of the costs on households right now.  We're going to have to try and tighten our purse strings a little bit more, rather than just trying to keep up with inflation.” 

Niverville council approved a balanced budget of $17,939,318.24, which is up just over $2-million dollars from the 2023 budget.  

Explaining where some of the monies will be spent, Dyck notes that some of the items will be purchased this year and some of the money will be set aside for their multi-year projects.  

“So, we are purchasing a new water tanker for the fire department. We are looking to renovate the south end of the Centennial arena and adding a library lounge.” 

“We don't have a library in town, and people have been asking for something, so while we have good library programming at the CRRC, and we're in conversation as Council, with our recreation manager, about seeing that increase, this is a first step for a library for Niverville.” 

"We want to make it a pleasant space, but also a multi-use space. The plan right now is that bookcases would be portable, so we could set up for a different event in that space. To start, would we accept book donations. However, because we won’t have it staffed it would be a grab-a-book, sit-and-read space, or bring your laptop and enjoy the quiet space.” 

The mayor continues with another Capital Project the town is looking at getting started and that’s a new fire hall and operations complex next to the existing Town Office building.  

“The main offices were renovated and completed. The RCMP station is in this building, and it should be completed in the next couple of months, and so now the next phase of this overall compound complex development will be to look at the Public Works and Fire Department.” 

He says they will move into the pre-design stage discussing what the building will look like, where it will be located, will they need to retrofit the existing space?  

Speaking personally, Dyck says, “I can't speak for council, but I'd love to see shovel in the ground for the new fire hall at least before the end of this term, in 2026.” 

Other fire protection expenditures will include the purchasing of a new thermal imager, and a vehicle extrication and forcible entry tool. 

Dyck noted another Capital Project in the works is the expansion of their Open Health Clinic, where plans are to increase the square footage of their space to accommodate more doctors.  

Niverville’s recreation portion of the budget has also gone up, to help facilitate more camps and more programming for Niverville and area residents. Monies will also be spent on new welcome sign structures at both the east and west ends of town.  

Find a complete 2024 Financial Plan for the town of Niverville on their website. It may be April, but the town reminds residents that property taxes will be due on or before September 27, 2024, at 5:00pm.