Taxes are going up in the Town of Edson.
At Edson Town council’s April 19 meeting, council passed its Operating Budget for 2022.
The budget includes a 5.22 per cent tax increase. This is up by 0.32 per cent from the interim budget.
2.6 per cent of the tax increase is to help cover the cost of Edson’s COVID-19 recovery plan. Town officials say the COVID recovery plan includes a tax cut in the 2020 budget. The tax increase will reduce the timeline of the COVID recovery plan from five years to two years. It also decreases how much money the Town has to take out of reserves to offset the tax cut from 2020, and helps improve the financial position of the Town.
The remainder of the tax increase is largely being used to cover rising costs incurred by inflation. The Town notes that around two per cent of the tax increase is going to increased electricity costs alone.
In a statement, council and administration say they recognize the immense pressures being felt by the public at this time, and have worked hard to balance the need to keep costs to a minimum with challenges faced by all departments with external pressures.
The Town also passed its capital budget for 2022. The capital budget boasts more than $32 million in capital projects in 2022, with 78 per cent of the funding coming from grants.
Some of the projects in 2022 include the Vision Park diamond and playground upgrades, Glenwood park upgrades, the Multi Use facility, and new highway crossing lights.
The complete budgets, including the full list of capital projects, can be viewed at www.edson.ca/budget.
