Chris Clegg,
Editor, South Peace News
The message repeated the last few years from our elected officials at the Town of High Prairie and Big Lakes County is clear: hold the line on spending!

Two years ago, while crying the financial blues, Big Lakes County councillors cut their budget for grants to community groups. We were told that everyone has to suffer a little pain.

Fair enough.

At town council’s meetings since the election, we have all been told how tough it is to balance budgets. Town council has told the High Prairie and District Regional Recreation Board, High Prairie and District Museum and High Prairie Library Board, to hold the line as they can’t afford increases. Or, at the very least, try to get its spending in line with other towns our size so we aren’t the highest taxed in Alberta.

Again, fair enough. Recent reports on mill rate comparison published recently are indicating that town council is succeeding. Good on them!

On March 28, town council debated the cost of living allowance increases for its employees. They settled on 0.7 per cent, saying in part that the increased money should not come from the backs of town taxpayers.

While listening to the debate, a single thought was running through my mind: are councillors also holding the line on their spending? In other words, are their claims rising or falling?

I was provided details of the cost to run town council in 2014-16. It has every expenses noted. After taking out items such as grants, sponsorships, election expenses, etc., I arrived at the following figures:
Year HP Claims
2014 $126,444.05
2015 $104,372.67
2016 $111,358.53
Notice the drop in 2015 from 2014?
However, in 2016, after asking the library, museum and rec board to continue to “hold the line”, council increased their claims by 6.69 per cent.
Interesting! Is that not speaking with forked tongue?

Over at Big Lakes County, here are the numbers:
Year BLC Claims
2013 $258,160.00
2014 $264,719.00
2015 $258,752.00
2016 TBA
Fairly consistent numbers!

Notice both town council and the county council dropped expense claims in 2015 from 2014. Town council decreased 17.46 per cent while the county’s decreased 2.25 per cent.

However, town council inched forward in 2016. We will have to wait and see what the county’s numbers show.

It is interesting to note that the county claims for the four-year term will probably exceed $1 million. In two years, Reeve Ken Mathews claimed $44,800 in 2014 and $40,600 in 2015, or $85,400. Over four years, that’s $170,800. That is serious dough!

After financials are released later this month or next, a complete list of all expenses will be published.

Stay tuned. Then we will know if the councillors are truly practicing what they preach when they tell its citizens to hold the line on spending.