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With all the rhetoric related to unity, tariffs and other multiple black swans that have occurred in society today, I want to assert the right of municipalities to exist, unfettered by the actions of the provincial government.

I will take, for example, the ultimate downloading that has ever existed in the history of municipalities in Alberta (aside from dumping bridges on us). The 2024-25 police-funding model numbers have been updated to Ponoka County to the tune of $776,302. Ponoka County had a population of 10,428 in 2024 and that expense is $74.44 per person. Importantly, there has been no change in service when the police-funding model was created but, that is another long opinion piece that would eat up my word count.

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But wait, we are not talking per-capita here; we are instead talking about assessment. So, this is where it gets stupid. Ponoka County has a tax bill of $21 million based upon 3.7 billion dollars of assessment. Now, if you have ever been to Ponoka County, you would know that farmland is what we are, with beautiful rolling hills, fat cattle, wheatfields, and........

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