OLDS — The Town of Olds has used 65 per cent of its allowable debt as set by the provincial government.
That’s down from 2020 when it stood at 95 per cent as the municipality borrowed $10 million to build its Operations Centre.
That information was provided during a council meeting last month as chief administrative officer Brent Williams discussed the municipality's 2025 financial update.
“Every municipality is given by the province a maximum amount it can borrow. So when we say utilization, we're at 65 per cent. That means that 65 per cent of our allowable debt limit has been used,” Williams said.
Coun. James Cummings said to his recollection 65 per cent is “a significant decrease” from about 2020 when it stood at 95 per cent.
Corporate services director Sheena Linderman confirmed that.
“Your memory is correct. In 2020 when we built the Operations Centre, we were at our all-time high,” she said.
During his presentation, Williams said debt is “a significant challenge for everyone who has debt."
He said Olds has had a “unique challenge” because of the loans that were obtained to set up Olds Fibre Ltd.(OFL), operating as O-NET, a high-speed internet and phone service that was sold to Telus in November 2024.
In 2021, the Town of Olds forced OFL's owner, Olds Institute, into receivership as part of the municipality's effort to deal with an estimated $18 million worth of debt it was on the hook for as a backer for OFL.
Williams said this year, in total, the Town of Olds owes about $28 million to the province’s Alberta Capital Finance Authority.
“Our target here, at the end of 2025 is to reach a 50 per cent utilization of our limits,” Williams said, adding the goal is to hit 35 per cent by 2031.
“So 2024 was perhaps the most difficult financial year on record, especially given the O-NET debenture, but there's progress to be made,” he said.
However, Williams said the Town of Olds will have to borrow money again for two reasons:
• the need within the next eight to 10 years to replace the aging north reservoir, built in 1957;
• improvements within the next decade to the Sportsplex, estimated to cost about $10 million.
At the end of his overview Williams said, “we're not going to cut or tax or way out of this.
“We do need to focus on unlocking existing revenue through infrastructure repair, expanding our commercial and industrial tax base, which is key to any healthy municipality, and increasing our housing supply, which is directly related to the commercial and Industrial tax base as well.”
