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Village doubles Fortis franchise fees

Boyle's Fortis Alberta customers can expect higher bills after village council decided to double its Fortis Franchise fee from three to six per cent. Village council voted unanimously in favour of a motion by Coun.
2018-5-2-JQ-Boyle Council Briefs-1-web
Alberta Municipal Affairs officials Jeff Nixon (right) and Travis Nosko watched the Boyle council meeting May 2. The viewing was part of the new Municipal Accountability Program (MAP).

Boyle's Fortis Alberta customers can expect higher bills after village council decided to double its Fortis Franchise fee from three to six per cent.

Village council voted unanimously in favour of a motion by Coun. Pat Ferguson to make the increase during its May 2 meeting. The fee increase is expected to cost users an additional $1.95 per month, or $23.40 over a year. The calculation is based on a 625-kilowatt-hour consumption in 30 days, according to an increase notice to be sent by the village.

Boyle Mayor Colin Derko said the move helps the village gather more income and the rate probably should have already increased over the last few years.

“Some of the buildings that don’t pay a lot of taxes in town, they do have to pay the franchise fees,” Derko said in an interview. “It’s a little more income with the village, and it puts us more in line with the average (franchise fees)."

Fortis Franchise fees in municipalities range from zero per cent to 20 per cent, according to a Fortis Alberta municipal comparison sheet includes in the Boyle council agenda.

“We’re still going to be below the average,” Derko said. “We didn’t want to increase it too much, but we’re trying to make up for times where we didn’t increase it by half a percent or a percent."

The rate increase is scheduled to come into effect July 1 for the start of the third quarter of the year.

Downtown accessible parking discussed

Boyle council discussed adding more designated accessible parking spots in the village downtown.

Derko said the village has received complaints about the lack of any such parking spot at the Whistle Stop Café.

“It’s been increasingly busy down there, which is a great thing,” Derko said during the May 2 council meeting. “But there has been some complaints we don’t have the actual physical markings for handicapped parking.”

However, Ashbey said demand should be considered when it comes to accessible parking spots.

“You have to be careful because you got so many spots on Third Street across from the community centre and three-quarters of them are empty most of the time,” Ashbey said during the meeting. “You kind of have to judge the demand for those spots.”

Council voted unanimously in favour of a motion by Coun. Shelby Kiteley to direct administration to gather information on downtown accessible parking as a whole and bring it back to the next council meeting.

Municipal Affairs reviews Boyle Council

Boyle council had the distinction of being the first municipal council monitored under the new Municipal Accountability Program (MAP).

Two officials from Alberta Municipal Affairs attended the Boyle council meeting May 2 as part of MAP. The new initiative will conduct reviews of every municipality with a population of 5,000 or less over the next four years.

Alberta Municipal Affairs financial accountability advisor Travis Nosko said Boyle was chosen as the first municipality via a random number generator.

“We did not want any bias or anything,” Nosko said during the meeting, adding municipalities already undergoing Municipal Affairs reviews were excluded from selection in the first year of the program.

As part of the program, Municipal Affairs officials will produce a report on the village’s operations, which is expected to be shared with council and the public, Nosko said.

He added the review focuses strictly on whether a village is following the rules and regulations of the Municipal Government Act. Through MAP, Municipal Affairs officials want to be proactive to prevent municipalities from needing more in-depth reviews, Nosko said.

“Hopefully, it results in healthier, happier communities and less of them getting viability reviews,” Nosko said.

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