Taxes will be staying the same in the RM of Stuartburn this year.

Though the mill rate will not be shifting from 15.655 mills, Chief Administrative Officer Lucie Maynard says residents’ tax bills may move up or down slightly as a result of reassessment.

“If someone's assessment during reassessment went down, they would likely see a reduction in taxes, however, if their assessment went up they could see an increase of between one and ten percent.”

Collectively, Stuartburn Council plans on spending about 1.8 million dollars this fiscal year. Of that, Maynard says the most significant purchases are an emergency backup generator valued at $82,000 and a set of fleetnet radios valued at $90,000. If they get all of the grants they applied for, Maynard notes, the RM will also be doing some local bridge repairs valued at $46,000.

Capital projects aside, Maynard says Council’s 2020 budget seemed to prioritize drainage.

“Council really wants to focus on getting a lot of their ditches maintained as some of them haven’t been cleaned out or mowed for quite some time.”

Along those same lines, Stuartburn’s most significant construction project this summer will be repairing the sites damaged by the flooding last fall. “We have received Disaster Financial Assistance funding to cover those costs,” she notes.

Also on the RM’s agenda this year is hiring two brand new positions. Maynard says her office hopes to have both a manager of public works and a liaison for species at risk join the team. She says those hires should be made in the near future as each role has received several applications.