Decisions related to the 2022 Municipal Budget have been delayed for the second time in as many months, this time, due to document discrepancies. (Elliott Knopp/meadowlakeNOW)

By Elliott Knopp

Delayed Budget

Meadow Lake 2022 budget postponed due to document discrepancies

Jan 11, 2022 | 2:26 PM

More than one week into the new year, the City of Meadow Lake is operating without a financial blueprint.

On Monday, Meadow Lake City Council was scheduled to engage in discussions surrounding the 2022 municipal budget. However, several errors in the documents led to any potential decisions being postponed to the next scheduled council meeting on Jan. 24.

This comes after budget talks in December were also delayed due to time constraints.

In an interview with meadowlakeNOW, Mayor Merlin Seymour explained the decision to push back all decisions on budget-related items was chosen to ensure council would be able to dictate government spending with all of the knowledge presented with confidence.

“We as counsel take this very seriously, and we have to have all the facts in front of us,” he said.

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“Rather than delaying the length of the meeting and not making sure we have all the information to make decisions, we would just postpone it so we can do it properly.”

The delays come shortly after Coun. Richard Levesque filed for resignation in November, citing a shortage of information while making decisions and concerning progress on some projects.

Seymour stated while decisions surrounding the budget are experiencing delays, the hindered progress shouldn’t be a cause for concern to residents.

He added administration began working on correcting any errors in the document ahead of the next meeting as early as Tuesday morning.

“We’re as open as we can be with any decisions that are made,” Seymour remarked.

He also mentioned residents concerned with the government’s prolonged commitment to its annual spending should be aware that daily operations will continue to proceed as council has a general idea of what expenses will look like following deliberations.

“Just because we don’t have a budget in place doesn’t mean we’re going to stop clearing the streets and stuff like that…day-to-day business is going to carry on as normal.”

While some discussions on several items surrounding the budget were held in council, no decisions were made on those matters.

Budget talks are expected to resume on Jan. 24.

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elliott.knopp@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp