A tax deliberation date set for May 8 has been pushed up to April 29.
Council approved moving the tax deliberation at its April 15 council meeting after being informed that administration had concerns with the previous date due to hearing that Canada Post and the union had returned to negotiations.
The mail strike, which paralyzed the mail system in the fall of 2024, could potentially resume as early as May 22, which would have implications for the town in getting its tax notices out.
Under the previous plan, administration and council had set a tax deliberation day for May 8, with plans to mail out tax notices on May 23.
Given the possibility of a strike, administration requested moving up the deliberations, with the potential approval of the tax rate at the May 6 council meeting, and allowing administration to mail out tax notices by May 12.
Tax deliberations will now take place on April 29 at 4 p.m., due to potential schedule conflicts for councillors at the earlier time.
With the change, the notice of assessment date will be moved to May 20, 2025, just before the potential Canada Post strike.
The deadline for tax complaints will remain July 21, 2025, as previously established.
Due to the potential strike, and as allowed by the Municipal Government Act, the Town of Stettler is also establishing an electronic means of correspondence for all tax matters for those who opt in.
Custodial Services
Town Council has awarded a custodial services contract to Aroma Cleaning Services of Stettler for the cleaning of the Public Works Shop offices.
According to Melissa Robbins, the town's director of operational services, the town typically just pays for hourly cleaning at the shop, with the amount varying at different times of year depending on mud and dirt.
The annual budget for this cleaning is between $14,000 and $17,000 per year, and has been done on an "ad hoc" basis.
Recently, the town advertised a request for quotes, with six potential vendors submitting. One vendor was disqualified as it did not follow bid requirements, outlining how many staff they intended to use for the cleaning task and whether they were covered by WCB.
Bids were also evaluated as to whether they carried a Town of Stettler business license.
Of the five bids that remained, the costs ranged from $140 to $225 per clean, with Aroma's coming in at the lowest.
The agreement is approved for one year, to be reviewed annually.
