ATCO Power may be moving away from coal sooner rather than later, and that could have an effect on the Sheerness power generation facilities near Hanna.
    According to a National Post story published May 10, ATCO president and CEO Nancy Southern, indicated they are looking at “greening” its coal-fired power plants by 2020, far ahead of the Alberta government’s plan of phasing out coal by 2030.
    “Our belief is that it makes sense to move to gasification of those coal plants now,” Southern is quoted in the story.
    Hanna Mayor Chris Warwick says he has not had confirmation of the plans in Hanna, although he has heard this is in the works.
    “What it means is we can plan better because we do have some timelines. I would be extremely surprised if they don’t convert this or build new, or a combination of both because you can’t shut all this coal down because we don’t have enough energy to fill that void.”
    There are some differences in operations when they are converted. He explains that energy output could be lower with natural gas, however, in a coal operation, a portion of the power goes towards operating the plant.
    “From what I am told the net result is close just by changing the burners out,” he said, adding the site is well suited with a natural gas pipeline in close proximity to the site.
    While he sees there are positive aspects to converting the plant, it will not bring with it the same level of staffing as the current operations.
    “Westmorland Coal Company has around 100 employees and ATCO has around 100, but there are about 20-30 jobs on the ATCO side that are dedicated to the coal portion of it. You need people to run the crushers and conveyors,” he said. “So there is a net loss of 120-130 people. “
    “At least if they retool, our water supply is solidified and my understanding is even when the mine is shut down, the are several years of reclamation work to put the land back to the way it was. So there is still work to be had.”
    He sees the development as both positive and negative. The most positive is that it appears that conversion is a real possibility.
    “It is positive in the fact that now we know when it is happening. It is negative in that it is earlier than I anticipated,” he said. “From our point of view, it puts a little pressure on the government to start rolling out what the compensation packages are going to be for the coal affected communities. They are reaching out to us and we have good communication so that is a good sign.”

    During the regular meeting of May 15, council adopted Bylaw 03-17, being the 2017 Mill Rate Bylaw, as proposed by Town administration.
    The 2017 Operating Budget which was previously approved by Council on February 21, 2017 detailed a 0% increase to the municipal property tax requisition. On average, the municipal portion of the tax bill will reflect a 0% increase.
    The town has held the line on the 0 per cent but there are holes that need to be filled including the Alberta School Foundation Fund (ASFF) requisition and the Drumheller and District Seniors Foundation (DDSF) requisition.
    The mill rate is a formula administration uses to set the tax level, whereas the ASFF and DDSF are completely separate.
    “It really has no bearing at all on the mill rate,” said Mayor Terry Yemen.
    The mill rate is not a part of the requisitions but the Town is responsible for collecting so they use the same forms to do so. Once the money is collected, it is immediately sent to the schools and seniors requisitioning.
    “It’s money in, money out – this is the vehicle we use to collect it,” said Yemen.
    Both accounts in the ASFF and DDSF found a decrease, therefore must be brought up by taxpayers. The ASFF decreased by 0.11 per cent and the DDSF requisition increased by 4.12% over 2016.
    The reason behind the 0 per cent increase on the taxes was because of the economy.
    “It’s because of the situation Alberta is in so we felt that if there was anything we could do to kind of lessen the burden and help out a little bit then we should do it,” said Yemen.
    Council plans to build up a healthy reserve but will hold off to let taxpayers have a break for the year. Yemen warns that this stability won’t last forever as reserves shrink and as inflation increases and decreases throughout the times.
    “It’s certainly not something that is sustainable by going 0 increase, 0 increase because you don’t have a lot of options and that’s just the reality of it,” said Yemen.
    According to the analysis of property assessments within Drumheller, on average, residential values have also seen a decrease by 1.77 per cent. Commercial properties have decreased by 3.75 per cent.
    Based on the 2017 requisitions; on average; a residential assessment of $200,000 in 2016, will increase on their tax bill by $8.03 where $1.85 will go towards the ASFF and the remainder of $6.18 will go to DDSF.
    A residential assessment of $300,000 in 2016 will see an increase of $12.05 with $2.78 to ASFF and $9.27 DDSF on their 2017 tax bill.
    Residents can find their new tax numbers online on the Town website at http://www.dinosaurvalley.com.
    Finally, a commercial assessment of $500,000 in 2016 will see an increase of $85.50 with $70.05 to ASFF and $15.45 to DDSF on their 2017 tax bill.
    In order to challenge your taxes, you must challenge the assessed value of your home. There is an application that can be filled out at the Town office.