Highlights from Lethbridge City Council

Lethbridge City Council met Tuesday afternoon.

They voted unanimously to put $15,000 toward a marketing campaign to recruit more family physicians to our city. Officials say it will be in collaboration with a number of organizations including Alberta Health Services South Zone, Chinook Primary Care Network and Economic Development Lethbridge.  Officials say the updated plan will add new initiatives which includes advocating for physicians in specialty areas. The Family Physician Action Plan will be updated with a report sent to Council no later than the end of July.  

A new outreach campaign is being launched as part of Lethbridge’s Encampment Strategy. They say this new model, which combines the efforts of Lethbridge Police and the Watch program, will help our most vulnerable along with others in our community. City officials say the Watch will be able to expand its current scope with help from outreach specialists from Community Social Development to adapt and respond to community needs in real time. General Manager of Community Social Development, Andrew Malcom, says while changes may not be visible, help is being provided.  The current Encampment Strategy costs close to $876,000 per year with just over $153,000 coming from the Operating Budget this year.

WestJet announced plans to transition its WestJet Link service to WestJet Encore. The change takes effect on October 27. It will go from offering three flights to just a single daily flight between Lethbridge and Calgary and Medicine Hat and Calgary. The company says in a news release that the change will complete their capacity purchase agreement with Pacific Coastal Airlines and is in line with their regional growth strategy. Director of Corporate Services with the City, Jason Elliot, gives his thoughts on the economic impact of the reduction of flights in and out of the windy city.

An unpleasant surprise will soon hit the mailboxes of Lethbridge homeowners…property tax bills. City Council voted during Tuesday’s meeting to approve its 2024 Property Tax and Supplementary Property Tax Rate Bylaw. The municipal portion will increase by 5.1 per cent this year. The provincial education tax levy is set to go up by an average of 6.04 per cent. That includes a 7.26 per cent rise for residential property owners and 2.82 per cent for commercial and industrial. As for the Green Acres tax levy, which funds seniors housing, it will go up by 4.72 per cent. In addition to the rise in tax levies, the City says the average residential property value in the community increase 5.3 per cent, multi-family by eight per cent, and non-residential by 6.2 per cent. All 2024 property tax notices will be mailed out on May 29.