Edson town council has approved a two per cent increase to the current franchise fee for FortisAlberta Inc.’s electricity services.
As stated in the council agenda, “Franchise fees generate revenues from properties exempt from property taxation, including schools, health care facilities, places of worship, non-profit organizations and federal and provincial government buildings.” This helps distribute the cost of municipal services across all utility users, the town adds.
The current franchise fee for electricity provided by FortisAlberta is 6.7 per cent. During its regularly scheduled council meeting on Oct. 6, council approved an increase to 8.7 per cent, which should generate an additional $243,411 in revenue to be added to the Energy Reserve.
As a result, the average residential property owner will see an increase to $6.96 per month from $5.26 per month, or to $83.52 per year from $63.15 per year.
The change still needs to be approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission.
Administration initially proposed a one per cent increase, but considering significant capital projects expected in the coming years, council approved the two per cent increase 5-1, with Mayor Kevin Zahara and Councillors Shawn Holden, Al Schram, Peter Taylor and Corrie Wilson-Leier in support. Councillor Pat Fogarty was opposed and Coun. Greg Pasychny was absent.
“Understanding that this budget process coming up is going to be quite difficult, I think this is an appropriate way of trying to generate some revenue in an equitable way while still being very reasonable compared to other municipalities in the province,” commented Zahara.
According to administration’s presentation, Edson has the lowest franchise fees compared to 10 similar municipalities. The average fee amongst those communities is 16.42 per cent.
During council’s debate, Coun. Taylor also clarified that while it appears the town is charging the ratepayers these fees, they are technically charged to FortisAlberta, which then opts to pass those charges back to ratepayers.
“I’ll put it back on them, the multi-billion-dollar corporations, that they are the ones that are supposed to be paying this rate,” said Taylor. “They don’t have to charge it back to the ratepayer; they make the choice to and are allowed to put it on the utility bills.”
In the same meeting, council unanimously voted to maintain Atco Gas and Pipelines Ltd. and Yellowhead Gas Co-op Ltd. franchise fees at 22.54 per cent.
You can watch the full council meeting below:
