Red Deer Minute: Snow Removal, Parking Tickets, and Final Budget Vote

Red Deer Minute: Snow Removal, Parking Tickets, and Final Budget Vote

 

Red Deer Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Red Deer politics

 

This Week In Red Deer:

  • This morning, at 8:00 am, City Council will meet to take a final vote on the 2023-24 Capital and Operating Budgets. The proposed budget calls for a property tax increase of about 4.8% in 2023 and 4.4% in 2024. We’ll be sending out a recap of all the details, so keep an eye on your inbox.

  • On Tuesday, at 5:00 pm, there will be a meeting of the Red Deer & District Family & Community Support Services Board. The Board will elect a Chair and Vice-Chair before moving into a closed meeting to discuss the year-end financial forecast. Also, on Tuesday, there is a Nomination Committee meeting at 10:00 am. The Committee will elect a Chair and a Vice-Chair before moving into a closed session to discuss applications received for the Housing and Homelessness Integration Committee. The Municipal Planning Commission will meet on Wednesday, but no time or agenda is available yet.

  • This year, Red Deer Lights the Nights will incorporate multiple, smaller events rather than a single, large event. On Thursday evening, there will be free hot chocolate in City Hall Park from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm as well as the opportunity for some late-night shopping. On Friday and Saturday, there will be a Winter Market featuring local vendors, live entertainment, and a public scavenger hunt.

 

Last Week In Red Deer:

  • One City Councillor suggested a way to increase the City’s snow removal budget - adding an additional charge to utility bills. Councillor Victor Doerksen proposed the idea during budget deliberations. Feedback from Red Deerians during the public engagement portion of the budget process indicated concern over the City’s snow removal process. The current budget for snow removal is $5 million and the City aims to clear all routes within 15 business days. Would you pay an additional charge for (no guarantee of) better snow removal services? Or, would you rather the City get other spending in line and allocate the appropriate amount of money to snow removal in the first place?

  • Speaking of snow removal, the City issued a massive amount of parking tickets during snow plowing. Just over 1,600 tickets were issued on Grey Routes (residential streets) while 81 vehicles were ticketed and towed on Green Routes (bus routes or connector roads). Residents are being encouraged to sign up for Notify Red Deer to stay up-to-date with plowing and parking restrictions, but perhaps the City could do some more work on communicating specifics.

  • New numbers from Statistics Canada showed that the Red Deer Region’s jobless rate is now the highest in the province. Unemployment is sitting at 6.2%, up from 5.5% in October. Last year at this time, the unemployment rate was at 6.6%. Alberta’s unemployment rates rose slightly in November while national jobless rates fell slightly.

 

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