Anyone that uses the cemetery or recreational facilities like the CN Centre or Rolling Mix Concrete Arena will see fees go up by three per cent over the next four years.
City Council approved the fee increases at a special meeting last night (Wednesday).
Councillor Garth Frizzell told MyPGNow.com it’s all part of keeping up with the inflation.
“When we’re buying the supplies to provide ice or when we’re providing costs to do the maintenance on cemeteries. Each year, the cost for providing those services at each of the facilities goes up.”
“With these fees and charges, these are cost recovery services for the most part. Rather than, all of this being paid for by all of the taxpayers, it gets paid for by the people who are using the service itself.”
Councillor Brian Skakun adds when it comes to the arenas, they’re directing the costs towards the users instead of the taxpayers.
“If you use the system, then we want more people to pay into that system versus just coming out of the tax levy. By raising some of the fees by three and five per cent a year, we offset a possible tax increase coming by about 150-thousand dollars.”
For example, the standard recreation rate for ice rental during the winter at CN Centre, Elks Centre, and RMCA is $333 next year and will increase by ten dollars each year until 2023.
In addition, an adult companion plot at the cemetery will cost about 48-hundred dollars next year, up from this year’s price of $4650.
The price will then rise to over 52-hundred dollars by 2023.
For a link to the recreational fee, increases click here.
The cemetery cost increases can also be found here.
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