City utility costs to rise again (KAMLOOPS)

By MARKUS ERMISCHStaff reporterNov 03 2006 http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/
As utility costs are projected to increase again next year, the city aims to keep property tax increases low for 2007, says the mayor of Kamloops "Because we've encountered some higher utility rate increases in the past few years, we want to try to be as conservative as we can on any tax increase," Terry Lake said."And I think that's still the philosophy." This year, water charges increased by 20 per cent, and sewage rates jumped by five per cent. Next year, water and sewer rates are projected to rise by 10 and five per cent, respectively, according to the city's 2006-2010 financial plan. This means that next year, a house assessed at $191,000 would pay about $50 more for water, and about $12 more for sewers.assessments, however, are expected to increase in 2006, as the price of an average house in the Tournament Capital now sits at about $250,000. "We will endeavor to see if we can bring that number down a bit," Lake said of the projected utility-rate increases. Precisely how the city plans to achieve that remains to be determined, but Lake said the delay of the proposed $50-million sewage treatment plant could ease the pressure for the sewage rate to increase by the full five per cent next year. Easing pressure on water, Lake said, depends on what infrastructure programs become available between now and spring next year. At this point, it is impossible to make predictions about property taxes, according to Lake, because so far, only the capital plan has been talked about in "very, very preliminary discussions." Next year's operating budget still needs to be scrutinized. Several factors exist to potentially keep low a property-tax increase for next year. The one per cent tax hike to pay for the Tournament Capital facilities is no longer applied, effective next year. Furthermore, the gas-tax rebate of about $1 million will be included as revenue in next year's budget. And, depending on this year's assessment of property values, another $1 million of buildings that had not been finished by the time the assessment took place in 2005, could be carried over into the budget for 2007. A small increase in gaming revenues could also help to offset costs. Lake said it is much too early to guess at a tax increase for next year. "We always have to make sure we're looking after the infrastructure of the city," he said. "But at the same time, we want to make sure we're living within our means." In 2006, property taxes increased by 1.5 per cent.