By Kevin J Sabo For the Independent
The Town of Stettler and council are hard at work preparing for the 2019 budget year.
Among the budget items discussed during the Nov. 20 council meeting, were dog and cat Licences and business licences and business tax.
Pet owners in Stettler will be happy to find out that pet fees will remain at $25 per spayed or neutered animal, with a $10 discount being given if registered between Dec. 1, 2018, and Jan. 31, 2019. The fee for un-spayed or neutered animals will remain at $50 for the year as well.
“No fee increase is warranted,” said CAO Greg Switenky. “Responsible pet owners appreciate the need for licencing.”
Licencing your pet helps get the animal back to you should they become lost. So far in 2018, 21 animal control tickets have been issued, totalling $4,900 in fines. The tickets have been a mix of dogs running off-leash, and dogs biting causing injury to a person or animal. In addition, 59 warnings have been issued.
Animal fees aren’t the only thing that is staying put. Business licencing and business taxes are staying the course as well. The Town of Stettler, which has an average price for licencing slightly higher than other similar sized jurisdictions, has not raised business licence fees since November 2013. The licencing will remain at $150 for the year for the business licence, and business tax will remain the same as well.
Other highlights of the Nov. 20 meeting:
• Council reviewed and approved the current capital expense budget.
• Council cancelled the Jan. 22, 2019, meeting due to a conflict in the schedule with the Scotties Tournament banquet being held the same night.
• Several council members who attended the G-3 open house on Nov. 15 are “excited” about the project. Some concerns were raised about the increased traffic at the proposed site, however Coun. Malcolm Fischer said the group looking at bringing the project to Stettler have the attitude of “We don’t want problems, we want to solve them first,” and they are doing all the front-end work.