Altona town council's first operating budget since last fall's civic elections is mainly a 'stay the course' kind of strategy for 2019.

In this year's financial plan, council will spend 8.4 million dollars overall to keep things running, which is about a million dollars less than last year.

In this case, less spending means doesn't mean lower property taxes since most of the extra money spent on capital projects last year came out of the town's reserve funds.

A lot of the more expensive capital expenditures this year are the 'nuts & bolts' kinds of projects related to Altona's infrastructure, according to Mayor Al Friesen.

The town has budgeted about $450,000 for street repairs and improvements, while about 1.3 million dollars has been earmarked for upgrades and improvements to sewage lift stations and a sewage re-lining project. Some of these projects are expected to receive funding assistance from the province.

Friesen says they have also marked about $40,000 for improvements to pathways and trails, and $25,000 has been budgeted for the Altona Accessibility Committee, which was formed to improve accessibility in the community.

"We felt a bold initiative to fund things like curb cutouts, sidewalks and community education was the best way to start that process. We are also launching our curbside compost collection service this year, and $90,000 will be needed for containers. That funding will be accessed from our solid waste reserve fund."

On the technology side, $200,000 has been budgeted as part of an overall $600,000 commitment with Valley Fiber for the installation of high-speed Internet service.

The municipal tax levy of $64,206 is a 1.32 percent increase over last year's levy, while the municipal mill rate will increase 1.7 percent over 2018; the lowest tax increase in the past five years.

That means a home with an average assessed value of $200,000 will pay about $37.00 more in municipal taxes this year.

"This was the first budget put forward by this council. It was a combination of staying the course and introducing some new things ... and on the other hand, we wanted to be careful as well."