There is no change to the mill rate this year in the Town of Ste. Anne. 

Mayor Yvan St. Vincent says they have a solid financial plan that allows for great things to happen without putting extra burden on taxpayers. 

The new lagoon is being constructed and should be finished in the fall,” he reports. “We're adding some new equipment and repairs to our arena ice plant, which has been desperately in need, relining some aging sewers, investing in our employees to add and help maintain that. That's a difficult challenge nowadays we find, keeping and retaining employees. There's lots of jobs out there and people have the ability to jump around so, we want to make sure that we're an attractive place to work and live.” 

Thanks to an increasing tax base, St. Vincent says they are setting aside money for important projects like recreational facilities. He appreciates partnering with surrounding municipalities to cover the costs of maintaining an aging arena. 

“We’re also working with the government in trying to add some more daycare spaces,” he notes. “So, we have put some funds aside to hopefully accommodate a ready-to-move plan which the government has put out as an option. We've made an application and we’re told that our application was strong, but we haven't received any final word on that. We're also adding some park equipment at our Pavilion Park, resurfacing some gravel roads, doing some sidewalks.” 

St. Vincent says the mill rate does not need to change for the town to afford important projects. He says a growing tax base is one part of the reason for that. 

“We’ve also had a good financial plan the last 6-7 years,” he adds. “We've been doing projects as well as putting money into reserves so that, when necessary, we can access those reserves. We wanted to get away from, every time we do something larger scale that we have to make a debenture for it. We've been fiscally responsible and fiscally managing our money to try to make all those things happen without having to either exhaust our reserves or without having to increase the mill rate.” 

Even with an unchanged mill rate, St. Vincent says some people might still see their taxes go up due to reassessment.