Lloydminster’s franchise fees aren’t likely to go up or down in 2019, according to Mayor Gerald Aalbers.
Currently, ATCO fees sit at 25% for gas and 11% for electrical for the company, which compensates the city for use of its roadways, inherent risks and to offset money lost from the city being unable to sell or develop the land.
Mayor Gerald Aalbers says the information was brought forward to city council more so that they could be aware of how they stand compared to other places.
“We don’t want to be at the top of the pile, or the bottom. Middle of the road is where we want to be. That’s across for costs and things like that. What was brought forward was leaving everything alone as it is today.”
Aalbers expects there to be no change to the rate when the final proposal comes in. This would leave the income for the city from the fees at just over $5.6 million from gas and electric. The mayor adds that if the fees were to decrease by a possible one per cent, the city would need to make up for it.
“In the grand scheme of things, it comes into the budget. If you take out a million dollars out of the city’s revenue line, we’d have to find a million dollars worth of savings, or we’d have to make up that million dollars somewhere else through another revenue source in the city.”
The final plan will be proposed to the council at a later meeting.