The 15-year Draft Budget & Long Term Financial Plan (Guide) will be coming up for public approval at the Tuesday February 20th Council Meeting. The community at large are encouraged to come to the meeting at 3:00pm and express and concerns they may have in regards to the overall plan as well as the provisional tax increase for 2018.
As it stands now, the proposed budget will see a residential properties tax increase of 4.5% as well as a 5% increase in water and sewer rates and a 1.7% increase for good ol’ garbage removal. Council has been sensitive to the taxes on the community at large and have kept it as low as possible.
Director of Finance, Tania McCabe stated in the budget proposal, “Council has also been working to reduce the tax burden on the non-residential classes since 2010. The ten year average annual tax increase has been 4.10% for residential properties and 2.85% for business/other properties.”
The total proposed tax increase of 4.5% is to the tune of $487, 868.00.
What is the increase for?
There have been some costs for added services to consider for 2018.
The City would like to hire a building inspector for the Development Services Department to help alleviate the clog in the proverbial drain of permit granting, as well as increased front counter inquiries and the increasing complexity of applications. This would come at a cost of $60,000 in 2018; an additional of $25,000 in 2019 with a total annual cost of $85,000.
A Civil Technician for the Engineering Department is proposed as well to help staff respond to the volume and complexity of development in a timely manner. This would come at a cost to the tax payers of $70,000 in 2018; an additional cost of $35,000 in 2019 with a total annual cost of $105,000.
Community Economic Development additional contracted services to improve response times to ongoing economic activities and to assist with the management of economic development projects. This would come at a cost of $35,000 for 2018.
Revelstoke Arts Council requested an increase for their Revelstoke Street Festival that draws many tourists into our community, to the amount of $5000 which would come at an annual cost of $60,000.
Comments, concerns and questions are welcomed on Tuesday, February 20th 2018.
