Dog and hen licences are being scrapped as part of a budget that has little new spending in Okotoks.
Okotoks council approved the 2025 municipal budget on Nov. 19. Speaking with the Western Wheel after the budget meeting, Okotoks Mayor Tanya Thorn said services were reevaluated and some items were seen as no longer being necessary.
“Urban hen licensing and dog licensing are prime examples,” Thorn said. “We’re getting out of the business of doing both of those.”
Dog and hen licensing will be discontinued on Jan. 1. The licences are expected to bring in about $180,000 in revenue this year, the Town said.
Dogs will need to wear a collar or harness, with the owner's phone number clearly visible, and licences will still be required for residences that have four or more dogs.
For urban hens, a one-time $50 fee will replace the annual fee that's been in place since the program began. Thirty people got hen licences this year, the Town said.
Business licence changes and new staff
Fees and processes for business licenses are being simplified, and the Town is moving from a tiered fee structure to a flat rate of $160 per year for a licence.
The current process asks business owners to confirm if they have development or building permits, and if the business meets relevant provincial or federal requirements.
"We used to, and I’ll use this word, be a gatekeeper on business licensing and permitting," Thorn said. "We've now separated those processes."
Some new spending is allocated for Town staffing, with three new positions created at an expected cost of about $400,000.
The new roles are business support technician, legislative services officer and IT security analyst.
“Cybersecurity is becoming a significant risk for municipalities,” Thorn said.
The legislative services officer is being hired due to coming changes to the municipal election process, she said.
“We need somebody that's going to be able to manage voter lists, the manual count, all of that."
Budget numbers
Overall, the Town's 2025 operating budget comes in at $80.4 million, resulting in a 4.8 per cent property tax increase.
The average single-family homeowner will see a $134 increase to their tax bill.
However, utility fees will decrease by 6.75 per cent next year due to changes in waste collection and recycling, for a savings on utilities of $110 for the average household, the Town said.
Overall, when property tax and utility rates are combined, the Town said the average homeowner can expect an increase of $23.88 annually, or $1.99 per month.
The Town approved the 2025 capital budget at $37 million, with another $52 million being carried forward.
The final cost for Okotoks' biggest-ever infrastructure project, the Foothills-Okotoks water pipeline, is not yet known. The final cost is expected some time next year, and the pipeline is scheduled to be operational in 2026.
The 2025 budget is Year 4 of the Town's four-year budget cycle, but a fifth year was added to the cycle.
The extra year will allow the next council to make adjustments for next year's budget, allowing it to start work on the next four-year budget in 2026, rather than taking that task on within a month of the election in 2025, Thorn said.
