City committee calls for two per cent tax hike

City council will be advised to approve a two per cent increase to the property tax levy for 2021, when it meets to deliberate the annual budget in January.

On Monday, the city’s standing committee on finance and audit approved a recommendation calling for the two per cent hike to the tax levy. In a report to the committee, city director of finance Kris Dalio said in order to maintain service levels, the city would need to raise an addition $3.59 million – equivalent to a 3.16 per cent property tax increase.

However, he said, the city received $6.11 million from the provincial government’s Safe Restart Grant program that can be used to cover some or all of that amount for the year.

“The intent (of the Safe Restart Grant) is literally for the offset of COVID impacts,” Dalio said. “It’s a one-time funding source. The exercise is to use that Safe Restart funding until we get back to normal.”

The proposal put forward in a motion by Mayor Lyn Hall, and subsequently amended by Coun. Cori Ramsay, would use $1.33 million of the grant money in 2021 to reduce the tax levy increase to two per cent, leaving $4.78 million for future use.

Ramsay said the committee could recommend using the grant to cover the full $3.59 million, resulting in no tax levy increase in 2021, but that would only leave $2.52 million to help cover further costs and lost city revenue in 2022.

“I don’t want the taxpayers to be hit with a five per cent tax increase in 2022,” Ramsay said.

In July, the city was predicting it would face a $6.4 million shortfall in 2021, equivalent to a 5.63 per cent tax increase.

In his report to the committee, Dalio said the restructuring at city hall resulted in the reduction of eight exempt and four unionized positions – in addition 44 staff who work at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre, Elksentre and Four Seasons Leisure Pool are laid off while those facilities are closed.

Dalio said his financial projections assume those three facilities will remain closed throughout 2021.

“The exempt and management staff have committed to zero per cent increases over the next two years,” Dalio added.

The Prince George Public Library also committed to zero per cent budget increases until 2023, Dalio said.