Tramping Lake -- Following its regular council meeting on Monday, March 20, the Tramping Lake village council met with residents at the Golden Sun to explore options for the village of 60.
Mayor Christine Lang, accompanied by coucillors Arnold Simon and Sheila Simon, and Administrator Aileen Garrett explained to the gathered audience the dire financial situation of the village.
Lang prefaced her remarks by referring to impending federal and provincial budgets which she predicted that each was going to want more and concluded that, “the village needs money, too.”
Lang asked Administrator Aileen Garrett to explain the hardship that the village is facing.
Garrett said that the village was owed $60,000 in tax arrears and a further $20,000 in utilities for the provision of water and sewer services.
Garrett added that in 2016, $47,000 was levied in taxes, but only $19,000 was received, while a similar shortfall of approximatively $20, 000 was experienced in the collection of utilities revenue.
The village is in the process of seeking the arrears form the owners of about 30 properties in the town where, according to the Tramping Lake Census Profile from the 2016 census, a third of the private dwellings are unoccupied.
Everyone understood that taking over the delinquent properties would not solve the problem as those still paying their taxes would have to shoulder more of the load in the future.
Those is attendance, about 25 per cent of the village’s population. The group were concerned and after having some initial questions answered, began, in true Saskatchewan form, to brainstorm ways of meeting the town’s needs.
Unlike other levels of government where finger-pointing and name-calling may be the norm, at this meeting the genuine concern for community and sense of all for one, one for all was a strong force in the room.
Everyone presented at least one idea to be considered by council, which has yet to set its annual budget, although a tax hike is expected.
Ideas ranged from adding $100 per month per property for anywhere from one to five years, to cutting town meeting per diems in half, to installing shut-off valves for each property so that, much like surrounding towns, the water could be cut off in cases of delinquent payments.
Additionally, everyone was thankful for the efforts that were presently being made to keep the town afloat, like continuing to revive the old equipment rather than spending money on new equipment, as in the case of the town’s tractor.
