CITY HALL COUNCIL NOTES

THE NEXT REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING IS MONDAY, JUNE 13.

City council has authorized city administration to update five bylaws that deal with local improvement plan construction costs, business licences, municipal taxation, mobile home licences and property tax submission deadlines.

Council gave three unanimous readings to the amendments during its recent regular meeting. Since no one on council opposed the changes, the amendments went into effect immediately.

Uniform rates bylaw

City hall uses the uniform rates bylaw to set fixed financial costs for units of work — usually per metre of frontage — when undertaking local improvement plans (LIPs) in neighbourhoods. It also uses the bylaw to inform third parties about the cost of pursuing municipal construction work.

The new costs versus old costs (in square metres unless otherwise noted) are:

Arterial road reconstruction with pavement: $160 / $175

Collector road reconstruction with pavement: $145 / $175

Local/residential road reconstruction with pavement: $120 / $145

Road reconstruction with gravel: $75 / $80

Road capping: $25 / N/A

Road resurfacing: $40 / $45

Separate/floating sidewalk: $250 / $260

Sidewalk with curb and gutter (linear metre): $350 / $375

Curb and gutter only (linear metre): $230 / $265

Tree and stump removal (each): $1,500 / $1,700

Business licensing bylaw

municipal taxes, mobile home licences, tax deadlines

Jason G. Antonio - Moose Jaw Express

The new business licensing bylaw will reflect the current standards and practices and provide updated licence fees.

In particular, the department of planning and development will now issue business licences instead of financial services, which reflects the practical process of reviewing applications for permits, a council report said.

Furthermore, the updated bylaw eliminates the need for a physical registry of licensed businesses and creates an online database instead, provides simplified language around violations for non-compliance, removes explanations of administrative processes, allows for increased flexibility in handling administrative tasks, creates regulations for specific businesses and creates — for the first time — an appeal process for individuals denied a business licence.

The fees have also been updated, including (new vs. old):

Category A (annual revenue under $50K): $30 / $25

Category B (annual revenue between $50K and $500K): $150 / $125

Category C (annual revenue over $500K): $300 / $250

Transient: $441 / $350

Property tax bylaw

The property tax bylaw establishes the municipal rates of taxation for this year, defines the classes and subclasses, and enumerates the mill rate factors for each subclass.

Furthermore, it excludes from the supplement roll property assessments that generate under $100 in taxation revenue and sets a standard base tax on all property classes to contribute to the waterworks capital fund to partially fund the cast iron replacement program and the parks and recreation capital fund.

A levy of $100 will be applied to most property classes to fund the waterworks capital expense fund and to partially fund cast iron replacement.

A levy of $65 will be applied to most property classes to fund parks and rec capital projects and the new outdoor pool.

Mobile home licensing

The purpose of the updated mobile home licensing bylaw is to establish fees for this year, establish additional annual fees for infrastructure ($100) and parks and rec ($65) initiatives, create an annual due date (June 30) to pay the additional fees and update language with fee payments to clarify monthly charges.

Tax payments, discounts, penalties

Updating the tax payments, discounts and penalties bylaw enables city hall to extend the due date for property taxes to July 31 from June 30.

The reason for this change is the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) is late in providing the city with the annual property assessments, which is delaying the municipality in issuing property tax notices for 2023. Moreover, the launch of city hall’s new software program is taking longer than expected.

Last year city hall collected $38,626 from late fees; it expects to collect slightly less this year.

Says

A cancer survivor is reminding Moose Javians that excess UV radiation can damage skin, which is why it’s important to protect the largest organ of the body.

Kathy Barnard, founder of the Penticton, British Columbia-based Save Your Skin Foundation, virtually thanked city council during its May 23 regular meeting for proclaiming May as “Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month” in Moose Jaw.

The North Vancouver resident explained that she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer — in 2003, and by 2005, doctors gave her six months to live after cancer spread throughout her body.

“I never would have imagined that my childhood days spent at the lake or playing softball would lead to such a deadly, life-threatening situation for (me),” she said.

Barnard explained that with summer nearly here, residents must practise sun safety and be vigilant, informed and aware of the potential risks of overexposure to UV radiation, which is allegedly one of the major causes of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers.

Though skin cancers — the most common — should be largely preventable, their diagnosis rates have been increasing, she continued. One in six Canadians born in the

1990s will likely acquire skin cancer in his or her lifetime, while there are more new cases of skin cancer yearly than the number of breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers combined.

While doctors can surgically remove most non-melanoma skin cancers, melanoma is so aggressive that the five-year survival rate of melanoma that has metastasized — spread to other parts of the body — is 18 per cent, Barnard said.

Meanwhile, melanoma is the seventh-most common cancer in Canada and fourth-most common for people aged 15 to 29.

Despite these figures, many people still seek the sun — or tanning beds and lamps — without taking precautionary measures or believe only severe burns contribute to skin cancer, she stated. The research allegedly shows that any darkening of skin colour — including a tan — indicates that the skin has experienced UV damage.

“Early detection and prevention are crucial in fighting this type of cancer,” Barnard said. “While no cancer — including melanoma — can be prevented, there is good news. The risk factors are well known and steps can be taken to significantly reduce the risk of developing this deadly disease.”

Residents should follow these tips while outdoors: always carry sunscreen, use SPF 30 sunscreen even during cloudy days, wear protective clothing, regularly check for new moles or changes in existing ones, limit sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., avoid tanning beds, and have your skin examined every three years for those under age 40 and yearly for those over 40.

Barnard also encouraged city administration to incorporate sun safety measures when designing new buildings or outdoor venues.

More than 50 Canadian municipalities have responded to the Save Your Skin Foundation’s call during the past two years to proclaim May as “Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month,” she added.

Founded in 2006, the Save Your Skin Foundation is a non-profit registered charity dedicated to the fight against non-melanoma skin cancers, melanoma and ocular melanoma through education, advocacy and awareness initiatives. It also provides funding to people who must travel — across town or outside of the province — for medical appointments.

Extra snow clearing, unexpected utility fees hiked public works’ Q1 expenses by $430K

Expenses in the public works department were more than $400,000 over budget during the first quarter of this year because of extra winter activities and a “misallocation” of power costs.

The department saw expenses of $1,840,018 from Jan. 1 to March 31 versus $1,410,832 during the same period last year, a difference of $429,186, according to a report about city hall’s first-quarter activities presented during the May 23 regular meeting.

One major increase was in snow operations, where the city budgeted $1,086,908 for snow clearance this year and had spent $550,449 — 51 per cent — during the first three months of 2023.

City hall has likely used 65 per cent of that budget because of snow-clearing activities after March, said finance director Brian Acker. Since there is still half a year to go, the municipality would likely be over budget but has a reserve account from which to pull extra money.

The second area of increase was in the Other Services category, which was 259 per cent over budget due to a “misallocation” of power costs that had to be redirected to other areas, the first-quarter report said. The department had budgeted $90,639 this year in that category, but by April 1, costs had ballooned to $234,493.

Acker indicated utility costs for streetlights were flowing into that category but have gone into the protective services account. He chalked up the issue to city hall moving to a new software account.

Streetlight expenses are roughly $70,000 per month, so more than two months’ worth of expenses — $143,854 — had flowed into the wrong account before city officials redirected them into the proper category.

“We actually pay almost $1 million a year in street lighting for the City of Moose Jaw, so not an insignificant cost,” Acker added.

Meanwhile, public works split its “Workshop area” into workshop and fleet, with the former on budget — 38 per cent of revenues are spent — while the latter was roughly $600,000 over budget, the first-quarter report said.

“A good portion of this overage relates to annual costs such as insurance coming into this quarter and a shift in rental charges from hourly to kilometre-based to annual-based charges,” the document stated. “Annual rental charges only come in the fourth quarter of each year. Further analysis and review (are) occurring in the fleet services area.”

Among other things, the report showed that regular transit service revenues and expenses were both at $351,141 by the end of Q1, which was 22 per cent of the $1,573,312 budget. The one area trending above budget was in vehicle maintenance, where $163,193 — or 38 per cent — had been spent out of the budgeted $1,573,312.

“The increase in vehicle maintenance costs is partly related to fuel costs, which are up compared to 2022, as well as additional vehicle repair costs,” the report noted.

Para-transit service was also seeing similar cost increases in maintenance and fuel costs. Vehicle maintenance costs were at $32,623, which was 33 per cent of the $99,774 budget.

By Ron Walter For Moose Jaw Express