Vernon city councillor says it was 'quality' over 'quantity' when it came to the public interest in this year's new budget.Only three taxpayers came out to Tuesday's public input session on the financial document.Councillor Patrick Nicol is chairman of the finance committee. "Its been a tradition that there's not huge attendance at those events. So I always look for the quality of the people presenting and Bob Spiers (taxpayer and financial watchdog) presents extremely well. He represents a lot of the citizen's comments and challenges us. I always like that about those meetings, that we get tested."Nicol says councillors Cochrane and Gilroy also made comments about the one percent budget cuts affecting each city department. "That was raised again by both of them, with regards to if we are cutting too deep. We were assured at a number of previous meetings that was not the case."While there will be more discussion, Nicol expects the tax increase to remain at 2.8 percent by the time the budget receives final approval next month.That would add an extra $20 to the average homeowner's tax bill this year. (Pete McIntyre)
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