Council for the Municipality or Roland approved a total operating budget of just under 1.7 million dollars for the year.

Chief Administrative Officer for the R.M of Roland, Kristi Olson says with council being almost entirely new after October's election, there was a lot of excitement to carry through on election promises. "As much as we move forward on some of those, there is a fairly big learning curve, and so in 2019 our budget is fairly status quo," says Olson.

"We're kind of just moving forward with getting what needs to be done this year done, and looking towards making 2020 a big year for some of the advancements that we want to look at, but wanting to make sure that we do them correctly, and not rush them in unnecessarily."

One of the biggest projects on the books this year is the laying of cable to bring Valley Fiber to town residents. The project will give every home in the Town of Roland the ability to connect to the service. Olson notes a federal grant will cover 75% of the cost, and the R.M. will pay 25%.

$75,000 will hit the books this year, and another $75,000 will be included in the 2020 budget. Through money coming from the grant and accumulated surplus, Olson says the project will not affect the municipalities mill rate.

"There will be a bit of work that's done this year," notes Olson. "The reason we'd be putting any funds towards it in 2019 without seeing the direct work done, is because we're on a timeline with the federal grant and we have to have that agreement signed and done by the end of this year to receive the federal funding."

In 2019, the R.M.'s mill rate went up slightly, from 6.078 to 6.257. Olson says on an average 1/4 section of farmland with an assessed value of $840,000, that would mean an increase in taxes of about $80.

Meanwhile, on average, tax bills for residents with residential properties assessed at $147,000 can expect a tax increase of about $20.