Langford and North Cypress propose amalgamation

Details

Published on Wednesday, November 13, 2013

By: Kate Jackman-Atkinson

myWestman.ca

On Nov. 7, 102 people came to Brookdale for the second of two meetings regarding the proposed amalgamation between the rural municipalities of Langford and North Cypress. Those in attendance had questions, but overall, were fairly supportive of the plan.

Under the provincial government’s new Bill 33, it requires towns and RMs with fewer than 1,000 people to submit plans for amalgamation sooner rather than later. With a population of 767, the RM of Langford is being forced to amalgamate. Preliminary amalgamation plans must be filed with the province by Dec. 1 and the new municipalities will come into being on Jan 1, 2015.

The proposed amalgamation plan put forward by the two municipalities would create an amalgamated municipality with a population of 2,627 residents.  The municipality will be called the Municipality of North Cypress-Langford and its municipal office will be the current RM of North Cypress and Town of Carberry office in Carberry. The chief administrative officer will be Brent McMillan, who is the current CAO of the RM of North Cypress and the Town of Carberry.

The council would be composed of six council members and a head of council.  The councillors would be elected from wards, two of which would be from what was formerly Langford and four from what was formerly North Cypress. The head of council would be elected at large. 

Currently, the RM of North Cypress and the Town of Carberry have shared administration and that would remain, although some changes are expected to account for the larger rural municipality.

Two service areas

RM of Langford reeve Kathy Jasienczyk said that last January, Langford began talking to the RM of North Cypress about amalgamation. She explained that council favoured amalgamating with another rural municipality over an urban one. 

“We considered a rural municipality a better fit,” she said. She added that they wanted to create a stronger rural voice for agriculture, land use and protecting the aquifer.

Jasienczyk explained that Langford council was concerned that amalgamating with a larger urban centre (namely Neepawa) would result in rural issues taking the back seat. They also worried about tax increases and decreased services for rural residents.

Neepawa residents pay a much higher mill rate than Langford residents. 

“There was no assurance that there would be no changes,” said Jasienczyk. She added that while they could negotiate a deal that would initially protect Langford’s interests, future councils would have more urban than rural representatives and could make changes that would be detrimental to the interests of rural residents.

While Langford’s first choice was North Cypress, they were initially exploring possible amalgamation with the Town of Carberry. They weren’t ready to talk to Langford until they finished exploring that option. In the meantime, Jasienczyk said they talked to their other rural neighbours about possible amalgamation but none appeared to be as good a fit. There were no amalgamation discussions with Neepawa.

In June, discussions between North Cypress and Carberry broke down and in July, Langford and North Cypress began looking at financials to see if an agreement could be reached. North Cypress has a much higher assessment than Langford and therefore, a lower mill rate. RM of Langford residents pay 13.22 mills while North Cypress residents pay 7.07 mills. If the tax rates were to be blended, the blended rate of 7.851 mills would be an 11.04 per cent increase for North Cypress residents and a 40.61 per cent decrease for Langford residents.

North Cypress is over the 1,000 resident threshold and therefore don’t have to amalgamate. A proposal that would result in a tax increase for North Cypress residents wouldn’t be supported.  However, a solution was found by McMillan who proposed an amalgamation with two different service areas. 

The new municipality would continue to pay into the services in both Neepawa and Carberry that they currently pay into, for example, the libraries and the fire departments. Councillors would continue to sit on committees in both communities and agreements would stay in place.

In a combined municipality, Langford accounts for 25.94 of the assessment and North Cypress accounts for 74.06 per cent of the assessments. Under the proposed amalgamation plan with two service areas, an overall budget will be developed but each service area will be responsible for a specific share. Under the two service areas model, service area one would be what was formerly North Cypress and they will be responsible for 74.06 per cent of the budget.  Service area two, what was Langford, will be responsible for 25.94 per cent of the budget. Residents in service areas one and two will pay the rates they currently pay. Service area one is larger, but pays a lower mill rate, which means there is little incentive for future councils to change this split rate structure. Under this plan, said Jasienczyk, “Amalgamation basically carries on as is, there will be no increase in mill rates.”

While the split rate plan is the one being put forward to the provincial government in the amalgamation plan, there is a possibility it will be rejected and a blended rate will have to be used.  Langford CAO Allison Bardsley said that in discussions with the provincial government’s amalgamation consultant, they feel the service area model will be supported. “Service areas have been used in the past and he doesn’t feel it will be a problem,” she said.

No significant costs savings or cost increases are expected under amalgamation.

Support and some questions

RM of North Cypress residents who spoke had concerns about the possibility of rising tax rates if the service area model isn’t accepted by the province. Beyond that however, they expressed little concern. Although one North Cypress resident said he would feel more comfortable with the plan had Langford and Neepawa actually sat down in discussions about amalgamation.

A number of Langford residents spoke strongly in favour of a Langford-North Cypress amalgamation. They feel that a larger rural municipality will have a stronger voice when it comes to land use, water use and drainage.  “Together we can be stronger,” said one resident.

One Langford resident who lives just outside the boundary of Neepawa, expressed some opposition, preferring to see his tax revenue going to Neepawa. Jasienczyk said that councillors would continue to sit on Neepawa committees, even though they don’t want to be tied financially to the Town. 

“Yes, Neepawa is our community,” she said.

The possibility of a future amalgamation with Carberry was raised and the councillors felt that the town could be amalgamated at a future date. One Carberry resident felt that both Neepawa and Carberry were being ‘shunned’. 

“At the Carberry [amalgamation] meeting, it was pointed out that people from the rural municipalities are different than the people in town. I don’t agree,” he said. 

North Cypress councillor Bob Adriaansen said that the issue isn’t that the residents are different, but that they have different issues. He said that an amalgamated rural municipality would continue to have working relationships with both Neepawa and Carberry.

Langford councilor Wayne Hildebrand spoke about the similarities between the two municipalities. 

“We’re largely two rural municipalities with a tremendous amount in common,” he said. He added that they also have many common land owners who would be better served by one municipality. 

Hildebrand also talked about the role the amalgamated municipality could play as stewards of the water resources that sit in the aquifer below them. 

“We can work together to preserve water quality. We can [also] work together to protect it for the region,” he said. 

RM of North Cypress reeve Ralph Oliver said that the feedback he has heard has been mostly supportive.  He said that while some ratepayers expressed apprehension, understanding the circumstances, they came away [from the meetings] thinking amalgamation is OK.

Both councils are expected to meet together this week to discuss the feedback from the two meetings.

Photo: RM of North Cypress reeve Ralph Oliver speaks to the crowd at the amalgamation meeting in Brookdale last week. Looking on are (from left) RM of Langford CAO Allison Bardsley and RM of Langford reeve Kathy Jasienczyk. 

Photo by Kate Jackman-Atkinson