Winkler city council has adopted an $18.5 million operating budget for 2021 that includes a moderate property tax increase of almost 5 per cent.

With some fairly hefty capital projects on the books for this year, spending in this year's financial plan will increase by 7.69 per cent over last year.

The budget also includes a small mill rate increase, nudging the municipal tax rate slightly higher to 12.935 mills. This year's municipal tax levy will generate $12.2 million for the city.

Ratepayers can expect a 4.85 per cent tax increase on both residential and commercial property. That means a house with an average assessed value of $230,000 will see a $61.00 increase while commercial property assessed at $500,000 will see an average tax increase of close to $200.00.

Mayor Martin Harder says it's a fair increase when you look at how the city has kept taxes low for well over a decade.

"We've had a pretty good history of keeping our tax increases between 1.5 and 2 per cent over the course of the last 14 years and last year we brought it down to a zero tax increase because of COVID. We're not taking care of everything that needs to be done but it's a fair increase and the rest of it comes out of reserves."

In fact, $10.4 million in reserve funds will be used by the city to help pay for this year's capital expenditures.

Winkler completed its largest project ever last year with the construction of the $19 million Meridian Exhibition Centre and is poised to take on an even larger project with the proposed wastewater treatment plant that comes with a price tag of $49 million. That project is awaiting federal and provincial funding approval which is expected to happen this year. Winkler's share of that project is $10.5 million which it will debenture over 15 years.

Other big-ticket projects include $2.2 million dollars to build some infrastructure into the Clover Creek Industrial Park and $1.8 million will be invested toward the makeover of 15th Street which will include a round-about. An additional $900,000 will be invested in retrofitting the George Street reservoir.

Last year, Winkler registered 3.22 per cent property value growth and, according to Harder, that rapid growth is driving a lot of these capital expenditures.

"I think this is best described as a balanced budget when taking into consideration the amount of growth that has taken place in the city of Winkler, the outstanding projects that still need to be completed and the new projects on the horizon that we need to be ready for," says Harder.