A 5 per cent increase to the West Central Planning Agency (WCPA) 2016 budget was approved by Wetaskiwin County council at its Dec. 15 meeting.
This will increase the county’s per capita contribution from $3.43 to $3.60, based on a 2011 population census of 10,866.
Along with $500 base fee, this lands the county’s contribution to WCPA at $39,617. This amount will be included in the County’s 2016 budget deliberation process.
The increase comes after Rimbey decided to drop their support going to WCPA. “Part of that increase is change in membership,” said CAO Frank Coutney.
Coun. Garry Dearing says as long as the county sees a similar number of subdivisions in 2016 as it did in 2015 Wetaskiwin County will can easily handle the changes.
“It’s based on user fee … It’s hard to budget when you have external factors,” said Dearing.
“If we have a good year we’ll have a minimal increase to the budget,” he added.