Council will be getting its first look at the draft of the 2020-2022 town budget tonight (Oct. 28). Also, they will be determining if residents will be facing an increase in the electricity franchise fee.

Town administration will be presenting a draft of what they see happening in the next three years with town services and capital projects.

Tomorrow, the town will be launching public engagement by seeking feedback on its Let's Talk Cochrane platform. There will also be pop-up sessions before council sits down to discuss the budget in detail on Nov. 18 and possible 19.

How much impact the Alberta Government's cut to Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding will have upon the town budget and capital plan might be better known tonight.

Late last week, Mayor Jeff Genung said the cuts weren't as deep as the town anticipated.

"We were expecting a decrease of up to 15, maybe 18 per cent, so I'm pleased with a nine per cent cut," he said.

With major pieces of the puzzle missing in preparing the budget, the administration had to take some educated guesses. Genung didn't rule out the possibility of having to make adjustments.

Council will also be discussing increasing the electricity franchise fee to 17 per cent from 15 per cent. At the last council meeting, it was proposed the fee should be raised to 20 per cent from 15 per cent over three years.

The fee shows up as a rider on monthly electricity bills.

Should it be approved, the town will generate an additional $301,000 in revenue for transportation services.

Between franchise fees charged for electricity and natural gas, the town collected $3.1 million in 2018.