Revised budget is still too much for some councillors

Even after shaving 15% from a proposed tax and utility hike for 2024, some members of Osoyoos council aren’t done chopping yet.

“I’d like to make a recommendation that it goes back to staff to review it and see what’s really needed for 2024 and try to bring it down another 5%, 6%. I still find 24% too high,” said Coun. Jim King at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Coun. Myers Bennett also asked for “a little bit more time to tweak it.”

The actual tax hike that’s now on the table in Osoyoos is 11.6%, but combined with increased utility fees it will add up to a 24% hit worth an extra $933 annually to the average homeowner.

Yet that’s down significantly from the 39% overall hike – which contained a 13.6% tax increase – that was initially approved by council in late 2023 and 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.

Council voted Tuesday to consider third reading of the revised 2024 budget at its next meeting, 6 p.m. on March 12, which will be staged inside the Sonora Centre to accommodate a crowd if necessary.

Coun. Johnny Cheong was optimistic about getting to third reading on March12.

“I’m sure we have (requests for proposals) that need to be put out and capital projects that need to be started and, with our water situation, I feel that every month counts,” he said.

“And, if we can cautiously proceed forward, I’d like to do that.”

Osoyoos’ water situation deteriorated last month, when a power outage knocked out monitoring equipment, causing a well to run dry and triggering a water quality advisory for the entire town.

The town is also grappling with an aging sewage system that’s in dire need of repairs, too.

Town officials were hoping to begin building a war chest in the 2024 budget to address the utilities, but the costs were too much for council to bear.

Under the revised budget, the average homeowner’s sewer user fees will climb by $299, instead of the $445 originally proposed, while water user fees will rise by $295, rather than $674 originally proposed.