The R.M of Stanley saw a two percent increase in its 2017 budget, up $137,000 from last year.

Farmland taxes are expected to remain similar to last year. Owners of 80 acres, assessed at $450k, can expect to pay $1,178 (not including school taxes).

Residential property, assessed at $200k, can expect a $906 tax bill (not including school taxes).

Reeve Morris Olafson says the increase to the $6.6 million budget is mostly due to equipment costs. The R.M is adding two graders this year, the cost of which has ballooned due to the exchange rate of the Canadian/U.S dollars. The same graders purchased two years ago cost $100,000 less per machine.

Currently the R.M maintains a fleet of four graders, each on a 4-5 year life span.

However, Olafson explains once a grader hits 1000 hours it's retired, "We cannot afford the downtime of old equipment... It's bad enough with new equipment."

During a recent snowstorm a grader blew a turbo. The loss of a single machine for the day created huge delays.

"In order to make our rounds on a three inch snow it takes two days. Take one grader out of the system it takes two and a half, three days."

Overall, he says the $6.6 million budget is very reasonable.

"As far as bang for your buck, I think we're doing ok," Olafson says. "We run an R.M of 9000 people, 18 miles square, 400 miles of roads, and all kinds of services... we have decent equipment, nice facilities, we have rural water."

The R.M of Stanley also employs over 20 people.

Going into 2017 the R.M is making a number of contributions to organizations including $100,000 to Tabor Home, $76,000 to the South Central Regional Library and $42,000 to the Pembina Valley Conservation District.

CAO Dale Toews notes revenue is still raised mostly through taxes, over 90 percent of which goes toward the R.M's operating budget.

The R.M also saw debt fall from $4.5 million to $4.3 million in 2016. Toews notes debt is well within their total allowable debt of $34 million.

A grader costs approximately $400,000 per machine