Editor:

How does Morinville’s residential municipal tax rate compare? How competitive are we in the region? (All the data that follows comes from Alberta Municipal Affairs).

In 2012, Morinville had the second highest residential municipal tax rate in our region.

How does Morinville’s residential municipal tax rate compare with all other Alberta municipalities having populations between 7,500 and 12,500?

What will Morinville’s 2013 municipal tax rate look like? Remain the same? Decrease? Increase? Our recent history shows steady increases.

There has been a lot of talk about bubbles, bitumen and budgets in the last several weeks.

Catch phrases abound as reality dawns: ”Living within our means,” “Making sure that Albertans get the best value for each tax dollar,” “Being more efficient,” “Doing things differently,” “Making tough choices,” “Focusing on core services,” “Examining outcomes,” “Making sure services and costs are sustainable.”

An Alberta Economic Summit is being organized. The scramble is on!

How will Morinville Town Council and Administration adjust to the coming changes? Reduced expenditures and newfound efficiencies or higher municipal taxes and business as usual?

Comparative tax data is a useful thing. Shows us where we stand in a very competitive region. Where is our residential municipal tax rate headed in 2013? Anything is possible.
The County of Westlock has just voted for no increase in their 2013 municipal mill rate.
Will Morinville’s rate remain the same? Decrease? Increase?

Wonder what the results of a Morinville News poll would be if residents were shown the numbers and invited to give an opinion?

Note: In 2012, the Municipal portion of Morinville’s residential tax bill accounted for 72.69% of the total, the School portion was 26.26% and the Sturgeon portion was 1.04%.

Paul O’Dea, Morinville

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