Rosetown transfers $1.27M in unspent 2025 funds to reserves for 2026 projects

EAGLE STAFF

More money for Rosetown improvements are going into reserve accounts.

Town councillors approved transferring unspent amounts from their 2025 budget into the reserves during their Jan. 19 meeting.

The money, totalling close to $1.27 million, was designated for items that the town didn’t buy or for “projects that didn’t happen in ’25,” explained Amanda Bors, the acting chief administrator.

Bors wanted council to approve moving the unspent money to reserves so the purchases or projects “can happen in 2026,” she said.

Amounts include about $460,000 for paving work that didn’t occur, $150,000 to “refresh” the gym and improve drainage at the civic centre, $30,000 to improve drainage in front of the AGT Centre, $20,000 to establish a family columbarium at the cemetery and money set aside for the vacuum truck-sewer flusher. Almost $80,000 from the federal New Deals program, formerly the gas tax program, goes to that reserve.

Councillors also approved a business tax incentive for Western Sales to renovate its former home on the north side of Highway 7 into a truck and tire sales centre.

The company expects the project to cost about $3 million and the new operation will have 15 employees, Bors said, adding that she thought the building would hold three businesses when the work is done.

The projects meets the incentive’s bylaw, she said. If the renovation increases the property assessment by $50,000, the incentive that diminishes over three years will only apply to the $50,000, Bors said.