Summerland residents can expect to feel bigger tax pinch this year

Summerland residents will be digging deeper in their pockets this year for RDOS and hospital taxes.

The district collects property taxes on behalf of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen.

Owners of an average home assessed at $397,000 will see their portion of RDOS taxes increase by $36, with $9 going to the hospital, director of finance David Svetlichny told council Monday.

The total impact of regional district taxes on Summerland taxpayers will be $171,515.

This increase equates to a 2.27 per cent increase to the taxpayers of Summerland, Svetlichny said.

He based his statement on preliminary calculations for this year’s municipal budget that a one per cent general tax increase will generate approximately $75,400 in additional tax revenue.

Two new services — environmental conservation fund at $75,700 and the heritage service at $2,500 — account for 46 per cent of the total RDOS taxes. The 911 emergency call services will receive $24,150 from Summerland; the hospital will get $69,165.

Svetlichny explained that in order to build reserve funds for the Penticton Regional Hospital patient care tower project, the tax on the average residential property would be increased by $5 annually through 2018.

Approximately half of the $117 million required for the new tower will be funded from reserves and the remainder through debt.