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The City of Dauphin revealed the 2020 Financial Plan online Monday night.
City Manager Sharla Griffiths presented the budget, which was divided into the General Fund (public works, recreation, protective services, tourism, administration), and Utility Fund (water and wastewater systems).
The budget concentrates on infrastructure projects, and also features some measures to help Ratepayers — the tax due date will be delayed by 2 months (September 30), and the First Quarter Utility Bill due date has been delayed by 1 month (June 15).
How will the new budget affect my property tax as a homeowner?
Homeowners will see a property tax decrease of $144.67 per $100,000 of property value assessment.
How will the new budget affect my commercial property tax?
Commercial property taxes will decrease by $212.42 per $100,000 of property value assessment.
The City’s protective services expenditure (RCMP, Dauphin Fire Department) has increased by 5.29% overall.
Mayor Allen Dowhan mentioned the provincial government has confirmed there will be no cuts to their funding to municipalities.
You see the Financial Plan presentation in its entirety by clicking here.
Last night was the first reading of the bylaw associated with the Financial Plan. The 2nd and 3rd reading will happen at the next council meeting on May 11th, and then it will be sibmitted to the province.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
A large quantity of cocaine, cash and a firearm have been seized from a home located on the Ebb and Flow First Nation.
On Friday, May 1st, St. Rose du Lac RCMP executed a search warrant.
As a result, 55-year-old Brian Cochrane has been placed under arrest and faces charges of Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime and Unsafe Storage of a Firearm.
He’s scheduled to appear in a Winnipeg court today.
Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP continue to investigate.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Manitoba’s COVID-19 case count continues to remain low.
No new cases have been identified by Public Health officials today. The total number of lab-confirmed and probable cases remains at 281.
There are 37 active cases in the province, and 238 people listed as recovered. The number of deaths in Manitoba due to the virus remains at 6.
The Prairie Mountain Health region has identified 17 total cases since the start of the pandemic.
Today is Phase One of Manitoba’s reopening plan to gradually restart the economy. Manitobans returning to work are now eligible to access the temporary child-care system to find a location that meets their needs.
Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin says it remains vitally important that people with respiratory symptoms refrain from going to work or other public areas. He advises anyone with symptoms to contact Health-Links at 204-788-8200, and toll-free at 1-888-315-9257.
You can view Manitoba's Roadmap for Recovery by clicking here.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The Directors Election for Fusion Credit Union begins today.
Voting closes on Friday, May 15th at 5 p.m.
There are two candidates running in the Catalyst East District. Albert Paziuk is this incumbent Director from Ethelbert, and the other candidate is John Orisko from Dauphin.
Voting is going to look a bit different this year, explains Chief Innovation Officer Michelle Mazurkewich. Members can now visit the Fusion Credit Union website, where there is a voting page to select either candidate.
Members will be required to submit their postal code and member number in order to place their vote online.
There will also be voting ballots in-branch, although traffic is limited to appointment-only at this time.
Mazurkewich says we can expect more information in the coming days about in-branch services gradually returning to normal.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The Mountain View School Division is happy to hear the province’s announcement that it’ll be waiving student fees for InformNet.
Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen says the expansion of InformNet summer school will provide additional supports for students across the province during the coronavirus situation and allow students to be as prepared as possible for the next school year.
In addition to student fees being waived, InformNet won’t have a cap on enrolment.
InformNet summer school is available for grade 9 to 12 students who haven't completed a course during the regular academic year or wish to improve their grade.
Summer courses follow the provincial guideline of 45 hours of curriculum content.
A certified teacher with experience and expertise in the subject area facilitates all online courses.
MVSD Superintendent Dan Ward says the school division continues to provide programming for their high school students by distance and those students on track to graduate will graduate.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The average price of gas in Manitoba has risen by 6.3 c/L in the past week to average 77.07c/L.
In Dauphin, that’s no different as gas prices have climbed 6 cents to 79.9 c/L.
Nationally, gas prices increased by a nickel to average 82.75 c/L.
Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, says it’s becoming clearer that the lowest gas prices from the COVID-19 pandemic are solidly behind us.
“While oil may continue to struggle, a disconnect between low oil prices and rising gasoline prices has emerged at the hands of refineries that have slowed production over the past month to avoid flooding the market with unwanted gasoline. As demand stages a rebound, it remains to be seen how quickly refiners will raise production to meet the locations that have or will begin to re-open in the days and weeks ahead. For now, expect prices to see upward potential as we await a boost in gasoline production."
Dauphin’s gas price of 79.9 c/L is higher than the average price of 79.47 c/L in Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg’s price of 73.89 c/L.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The first few people who applied for the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) will have to reapply today.
The program requires you to confirm your eligibility every four weeks, and first began for some Canadians during the week of April 6th.
The CERB helps workers who have lost work because of the pandemic, providing $500 per week.
To be eligible for the benefit, you must be a Canadian resident that’s at least 15 years old, and has stopped working because of COVID-19; not because you voluntarily quit your job. You also must have an income of at least $5,000 in 2019, or in the 12 months prior to the date of application.
You can view the application page on the Government of Canada website.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
NDP Leader Wab Kinew has some concerns with the first phase of the provincial government’s re-opening plan.
One of Kinew’s concerns is with the government cutting jobs and wages for those in the public sector.
“They’ve announced that they’re going to be asking a lot of other government employees, employees of hydro and MPI, to take cuts to their wages, which doesn’t make sense to me. Like, why, when you’re re-opening the rest of the economy, are you trying to put cuts into place in this other part of the economy? So, one sector of the economy is getting the green light, full speed ahead almost, and then another part of the economy is getting a red light.”
Kinew is also wondering what would have to happen in order for restrictions to be put back in place.
“Particularly in the Prairie Mountain region, if there are an increase in cases after the restrictions get loosened, does that mean some of the conditions are going to be put back into place at a certain level and if so, at what level? Will there be an outbreak after this and if so, how many people would need to be involved in that in order for the government to come back with some of the precautions that have been looking at over the past little while.”
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The Swan River Valley Agricultural Society has announced the postponement of its major summer event.
The 2020 Northwest Round-Up & Exhibition will be bumped until next year.
Organizers say the decision was made with the health of guests, performers, volunteers and sponsors in mind.
This would have been the 64th year of the Northwest Round-Up & Exhibition.
Swan River Valley Agricultural Society president Brent Williamson thanked the volunteers, sponsors and community for their support.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The public hearing for the City of Dauphin’s 2020 budget is happening this evening.
The City will be conducting a virtual presentation of the yearly financial plan, beginning at 5 p.m.
In order to tune in and offer your input during the tonight’s hearing, you’ll have the option to (1) call in, (2) join by Microsoft Team, or by (3) writing a comment or question on the live Youtube stream.
City Manager Sharla Griffiths says residents can expect a “very basic budget”, that will see some “cosmetic projects” postponed until next year.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Beginning today, Phase One of Manitoba’s RoadMap For Recovery will start allowing things like non-urgent surgery, dentists visits, hairdressers, and retail shopping.
A discussion on the CKDM Facebook page showed the Parkland has some mixed feelings on reopening the plan.
CKDM made a poll on Facebook to see the ratio between reopening supporters and critics. The answers were a close mix, with 44% of people saying it’s ok to start opening, and 56% think it’s too early out of 219 votes.
Chris from Dauphin says it’s okay to open, as long as everyone proceeds with caution. He adds that our small businesses need our money.
Darlene from Ethelbert believes that we need to open back up and let people return to their jobs. She says that we need to get back out into the community and strengthen our immune systems.
Adam from Dauphin agrees that it’s time to open certain services like dentists, chiropractors, and non-emergent surgery, however other services like hairdressers and barbers should remain closed.
Wendy from Rorketon thinks that with all the uncertainty around the virus, now is not the time to re-open.
Jessica from Alonsa and Amy from Dauphin agree that it is too soon to open. They think that our province’s cases are relatively low, and fear that reopening will cause a spike in numbers.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
