Council going to work on 9.7% tax increase
Hopefully they splurged on a box of pencil sharpeners.
Faced with a proposed tax increase of 9.7%, Penticton city councillors are today set to begin 2023 budget deliberations.
More accurately, staff has pitched two scenarios: a 6.7% tax increase that would largely maintain the status quo or a 9.7% bump that would include extras, like new firefighters and police officers.
Both proposals are based on a 3.3% increase to cover deferred tax hikes from past years and another 3.4% to cover the municipality’s increased operational costs for the year ahead.
Coun. Helena Konanz was the only member of the group to offer any kind of comment when the budget was presented for preliminary approval on March 1.
“People are having a tough time right now and we’re going to need to look at this budget and bring these numbers down. I know that this council is a strong council and will be able to do that,” said Konanz.
A 9.7% tax hike would see the owner of an average home worth $662,000 pay an extra $176 this year on top of utility rate increases that will tack on another $61.
For the average commercial property worth $1.2 million, a 9.7% hike would add $688 to its annual tax bill, on top of an extra $380 in utility fees.
Big-ticket budget items include four new firefighters at $442,000, two new RCMP officers at $408,000 and one civilian RCMP employee at $99,000.
The city’s annual operating expenses are pegged at $115.3 million in 2023, up from $107.4 million budgeted in 2022.
The five-year financial plan actually contains three consecutive years of 3.3% tax increases to cover past deferrals, which were ordered by the previous council in November 2021 while the pandemic was raging and staff was proposing a 10% tax increase.
Council’s budget workshop is also slated to run Wednesday with additional time set aside Thursday if necessary.
The sessions today and Wednesday are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude in the afternoon with public question period. All proceedings are open to the public in council chambers and a live video stream will also be available through the city’s website.