Taxes, utilities going up 24%

A tale of two municipal budgets is playing out in the South Okanagan.

Oliver council earlier this month gave tentative approval to a 5.5% tax hike for 2024 and this week invited public input ahead of final approval March 11. That’s down from 10% initially proposed by staff.

Meanwhile, Osoyoos council was expected Tuesday night to give tentative approval to an 11.6% tax hike for 2024, ahead of final approval at a date yet to be determined. That’s down from 13.6% that was initially approved last year.

Combined with hikes to water and utility fees, the average Osoyoos homeowner is now facing a 24% hit, estimated at an extra $933 annually, on their municipal bill. Yet that’s down significantly from the 39% overall hike approved by council in late 2023 that kicked off a series of protests and public meetings that forced elected officials to sharpen their pencils.

Approximately $11 million was trimmed from the operating budget, mainly through deferrals and reallocations, at a special meeting Feb. 15.

Planned increases to sewer user fees were also cut by about onethird, while planned increases to water user fees were slashed by half. Around the same times as protests were being organized last fall in Osoyoos, town councillors in Oliver began working through utility budgets, then began studying municipal operations in January.

The result is a proposed 5.5% tax increase for 2024 that will translate into approximately $20 more per year for the owner of an average home worth $644,000.

If approved at 5.5%, Oliver’s tax increase would be just the third-lowest increase in the South Okanagan, above Penticton at 5.3% and Summerland at 5.4%.