“I think it was a well-planned budget”

The thoughts of Weyburn Chamber of Commerce executive director Twila Walkeden on the City of Weyburn’s 2019 budget, which was released on Monday.

She said the budget was prudent in its expenditures, and while the tax increase of 3.81 percent isn’t something everyone wanted to see, they understand the city’s business must go on.

The tax increase affected residential and commercial properties in the city. This put the ratio of commercial tax to residential tax to 1.8.

“Chambers like to see this ratio, between commercial and residential property taxes, at about 1.6, so we are narrowing the gap, and I believe the Saskatchewan average is around 1.96,” Walkeden explained.

The ratio is also below quite a few other centres in the province, with Prince Albert’s ratio over 2.4 according to some of the latest numbers. Walkeden explained it helps the community to bring new business into the community.

“Certainly prospective businesses look at that because that’s a fixed cost that they have to incur, and obviously we’re sitting well and we’re hoping that translates into attracting more business to Weyburn.”

Walkeden stated she understands has capital work which needs to be done, along with improvements, which is where the bulk of the tax revenue for the city goes, adding the improvements are not only good for current residents of Weyburn but go along way in helping the city grow.