T H E B AT T L E F O R D S
Regional
news-optimist Serving the Battlefords since 1905
Thursday, December 14, 2023
|
Plumbing
306-445-6707 www.nblukplumbing.com
Published every Thursday Buy 2 eligible kitchen major appliances
$
Buy 2 eligible kitchen major appliances
$
SALE ENDS$ SAVE** 300 JANUARY 3, 2024
150 *
City approves tax$ SAVE hike* 100 SAVE of 4.42 per cent $ 300** Buy any eligible washer & dryer pair
Grrr-inch!
Buy 3 eligible kitchen major appliances
ments, in this case Vancouver whose wage increase is expected to be 4.5 per cent following their collective bargaining. The RCMP costs ended up taking up much of the 2024 budget increase. According to the city’s news release 3.75 per cent of the general tax rate is designated for policing costs. Council did have the option to possibly go even lower with its property tax increase, down to 3.97, but that would have meant removing a $200,000 purchase of a 1.5 ton crane from the 2024 budget and delaying that purchase for a year to 2025, while spending $30,000 on a rental for 2024. In the end, council has kept the crane in the budget. Also going up are recycling and garbage collection charges for the Waste Management Facility by 4.4 per cent, driven by an increase with their service provider Loraas. Water base and consumption will see a rise of 4.5 per cent, while the sewer base and consumption will go up four percent. There is no increase coming to the Recreation and Cultural Capital Facility Levy, or to the Underground Pipe and Asphalt Replacement Fund. This is
By John Cairns SASKTODAY.ca
North Battleford council has passed its 2024 budget, and it means increases are coming yet again for city taxpayers. After one last round of discussion, council voted in favour of the budget in a series of votes at their regular council meeting Monday. The main decision to come down at the meeting was to decide what the property tax increase would be. In the end, the final approved hike is for 4.42 per cent, down from the originally proposed 5.12 per cent hike. Director of finance Margarita Peña presented the final budget to council Monday night. Council found a number of efficiencies in the budget in relation to a number of areas which reduced the size of the final property tax hike. However, the final increase also factors in a larger than originally proposed increase in the service contract with the RCMP, up from three to four per cent, to cover the retroactive contract payment. Four per cent is expected to be more in line with recent developments at other police depart-
150 *
Buy 3 eligible kitchen major appliances
SAVE
Also going up: recycling and garbage collection
SAVE
See sales associate for details and list of qualifying models* * Receive instant savings of $150 (before taxes) when you purchase two (2) qualifying Whirlpool®, Maytag® and/or KitchenAid® major kitchen appliances. ** Receive instant savings of $300 (before taxes) when you purchase three (3) or more qualifying Whirlpool®, Maytag® and/or KitchenAid® major kitchen appliances. Qualifying purchases may include multiple eligible brands. Multiple purchases must be made at the same time from the same participating authorized Canadian Whirlpool®, Maytag® or KitchenAid® dealer. Qualifying purchases must be made between December 7 2023 – January 3, 2024. Open to Canadian residents only. Offer is not cumulative and cannot be combined with any other Whirlpool®, Maytag® or KitchenAid® appliance offer. Offer is not available to second channel dealers, builders or contractors. All models may not be available at all dealers. No substitute models qualify. See Sales Associate for list of qualifying models. Dealer prices may vary. Dealer alone has sole discretion to set retail prices. Offer excludes Under Counter Vents, Countertop Microwaves, Discontinued and second channel appliances. ®/™ © 2023. Used under license in Canada. All rights reserved.
BONUS GIFT†† ONE YEAR SUPPLY OF SWASH†
See sales associate for details and list of qualifying models* in line with what was proSee sales associate for details and list of qualifying models* posed by administration * Receive instant savings of $150 (before taxes) when you purchase two (2) qualifying Whirlpool®, Maytag® and/or KitchenAid® major kitchen appliances. ** Receive prior to deliberations. instant savings of $300 (before taxes) when you purchase three (3) or more qualifying Whirlpool®, Maytag® and/or KitchenAid® major kitchen appliances. Qualifying purchases may include multiple eligible brands. Multiple purchases must be made at the same time from the same participating authorized Canadian Whirlpool®, The 2024Maytag® budget is also or KitchenAid® dealer. Qualifying purchases must be made between December 7 2023 – January 3, 2024. Open to Canadian residents only. Offer is not cumulative and cannot be combined with any other Whirlpool®, Maytag® or KitchenAid® appliance offer. Offer is not available to second channel dealers, builders or may not be available at all dealers. No substitute models qualify. See Sales Associate for list of qualifying models. Dealer prices may vary. Dealer proposing acontractors. spendAll models of $9.6 alone has sole discretion to set retail prices. Offer excludes Under Counter Vents, Countertop Microwaves, Discontinued and second channel appliances. million for®/™capital invest© 2023. Used under license in Canada. All rights reserved. ments, which Peña said is about $400,000 less than what they were investing in 2018. One issue raised at Monday’s meeting was the concern the city was falling behind in its replacement program addressing aging infrastructure. Administration provided a graph which showed capital asset additions down since 2021, down from $14,785,830 to $9,606,923. Peña noted other cities are facing the same pressure, and pointed to inflaThe Grinch visited downtown North Battleford Saturday. Here he visits tion issues. Another issue with some North Battleford residents downtown during the BID Holiday is ability to access grants. Festival. See more inside | Photo by Cassandra Germsheid “There’s not enough grants for municipalities to go and try to catch up,” she said. The major concern on the capital side that was discussed at length at the meeting is an estimated capital shortfall of $1,042,133. City administration’s plan to address paying slightly more in council on Monday. By Miguel Fenrich it was by tapping into un2024 alongside a new fund “Capital project budget Staff Reporter appropriated reserves to for improving asphalt in is $2.562,00 million, avoid using external fundThe council of the Town town. amortization is set at ing. of Battleford unanimous“We’ll add revenues of $1.752,00 [million] and That idea raised alarm ly voted to approve the $9,664,010 million, with to achieve this the Town bells from Mayor David 2024 budget at their Mon- expenses $9,174,332 mil- of Battleford will need to Gillan, who saw a situation day, Dec. 11 meeting, lion,” the town’s CAO increase the land portion of Continued on Page 5 which will see residents Landon Chambers told Continued on Page 5 * Receive instant savings of $100 (before taxes) when you purchase two (2) eligible Whirlpool® and/or Maytag® laundry appliances, consisting of one eligible washer and one eligible dryer. Multiple purchases must be made at the same time from the same participating authorized Canadian Whirlpool® or Maytag® dealer. Consumer can mix and match qualifying Whirlpool® and Maytag® Washer and Dryer as part of qualifying pair. Qualifying purchases must be made between December 7 2023 – January 3, 2024. Open to Canadian residents only. Offer is not available to second channel dealers, builders or contractors. All models may not be available at all dealers. No substitute models qualify. See Sales Associate for list of qualifying models. Dealer prices may vary. Dealer alone has sole discretion to set retail prices. Offer excludes Amana® laundry, Inglis® laundry, and second channel appliances. †† COMPLETED ONLINE CLAIM FORM MUST BE RECEIVED ON SWASHPROMO.CA WITHIN 60 DAYS OF LAUNDRY PAIR PURCHASE OR WILL BE VOID. Only one Bonus Gift per household allowed. No substitute Bonus Gift available. Not convertible to cash. Submission must include a copy of invoice of the qualifying purchases. Missing information will delay offer fulfillment or disqualify claim. Allow 4 to 6 weeks from claim validation to receive your Bonus Gift which will be couriered directly to the Canadian shipping address provided. † 3 (887 mL) bottles, each washing up to 83 regular loads. Based on mean of 4 loads/week; 2021 Survey of 1000 Canadian households. ®/™ © 2023. Used under license in Canada. All rights reserved.
Battleford’s budget sees new infrastructure levy
rontier Centre Stage EXTE
NDE
Go To
D
NORTH BATTLEFORD
JEFF ARNDT
Local Singer & Troubadour
To Check Your
Saturday, Dec. 16th • 1:00 - 4:00 pm
GLASS GLASS EXPERTS AUTO | RESIDENTIAL | COMMERCIAL
www.kkglass.ca
1601 - 100th Street, North Battleford, SK.
Ph: 306-446-2227 Fax: 306-446-3511
Singing: Phantom of the Opera Johnny Cash Elvis Garth Brooks Frank Sinatra & more
Sunday, Dec. 17th • 1:30 - 3:00 pm Stage
T H E B AT T L E F O R D S
AUTUMN SALE
Dave Tupling
Regional
news-optimist Serving the Battlefords since 1905
Online
Beautiful British Columbia Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir Trees NOW AVAILABLE SMALL
MEDIUM
LARGE
$
$
$
30
50
60