Council for the RM of La Broquerie approved their financial plan during their most recent meeting and with it, a slight decrease to municipal taxes in both the rural region and the Local Urban District.

Manager of Administration and Finance Jenna Patterson presented the plan last Wednesday and Council’s approval was unanimous.

As she explained, the average rural home right now, assessed at $194,143, will owe roughly $1436 in taxes, a $24 decrease from last year. Likewise, the average home within the LUD, assessed at $215,216, will owe roughly $1,579 in taxes, a $22 decrease from 2020. Patterson also noted comparable savings on all commercial properties throughout La Broquerie, stating the average business could expect to be saving just over $75 on their yearly tax bill.

In the rural region, the mill rate will be decreasing by 0.284ths of a mill; and in the LUD by 0.228ths of a mill.

Deputy Reeve Ivan Normandeau says there were a lot of unexpected savings in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which gave his Council some breathing room in their budget and has, in turn, resulted in this minor tax break.

“It was all-in-all a good year that ended up with a good surplus,” he remarks.

According to Normandeau, the savings for the RM stemmed primarily from postponed projects, cancelled conferences, temporary layoffs, as well as an unusually easy year for road maintenance.

La Broquerie’s total revenue for the present fiscal year will be $7,510,575 and of that Council has plans to spend $7.15 million.

Capital expenses for the year include various pieces of public works equipment, a few road reconstruction projects, trail development, a bridge installation and, of course, the building of a brand new fire hall. To Normandeau, this last expense is the most exciting.

To continue pushing the fire hall project forward, Councillor Darrel Unger and Councillor Paul Gauthier have joined a committee with various representatives from the fire department.

“We’ve got a committee in place, we’ve got a building inspector in place, and now we’ve got to meet with the Fire Chief and try to find a design that fits them and fits our budget at the same time,” comments Normandeau.

La Broquerie plans on borrowing $1.2 million for the fire hall and hopes to have the new headquarters functioning sometime yet this year.