Bike lanes make early appearance

City budget deliberations on a proposed 9.7% tax increase kicked off Tuesday with a firm declaration from one councillor that she won’t pass anything containing another nickel for ongoing development of Penticton’s lake-to-lake bike route.

Amelia Boultbee threw down the gauntlet within the first 15 minutes of council’s two scheduled days of deliberations while elected officials were still receiving a report on prebudget public consultation.

“I will not be voting for anything that includes funding for any bike lanes,” said Boultbee, who expressed concern that funding for the project – approximately $1.5 million is earmarked in the 2023 capital budget – is intertwined with other works to be approved as a bundle.

“Any bundling that includes bike lanes, I don’t think that’s going to work,” said Boultbee.

“It has to be made separate so those who wish to vote for funding of bike lanes can vote yes and those who wish to vote no can vote no, otherwise I will be voting no on anything that includes bike lanes.”

In her report on public consultation, JoAnne Kleb, the city’s communications and engagement manager, said an electronic survey of 302 people – representing just 0.8% of Penticton’s population – showed a strong majority in favour of maintaining existing service levels and increasing funding to hire more police and firefighters.

“Despite the budget being one of the most important public processes we support, getting people involved can be a little bit like pulling teeth,” added Kleb.

“It is historically the topic that generates the least interest of all our engagement projects and this is due in large part to the complexity and technical nature of the content.”

Of the proposed 9.7% increase, 3.3% is intended to cover deferred tax hikes from past years and another 3.4% is meant to cover the municipality’s increased operational costs for the year ahead. The balance would be spent on things like hiring four new firefighters and two new RCMP officers.

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, plus an extra $380 in utilities.