Vernon Tax Hike: 2%

(Pete McIntyre) http://www.1075kiss.com/news/headlines/
Vernon council has saved city taxpayers a few dollars. The proposed 2.8 percent tax hike has been cut to an even two percent after the changing of a few budget items on Monday. A $300,000 taxiway project for the airport was deleted. The RCMP reserve was decreased ($1.26 million to $1 million), and the surplus from building permits, will be used to fund the O-C-P review ($230,000).The reduction means the average Vernon homeowner will pay an extra 13 dollars in taxes this year, down from 20.

Councillor Juliette Cunningham felt it could have been lowered by using more reserve funds. "We still have issues around reserves and we've asked staff to do a review around the city's reserve funds." However, in the end, Cunningham is satisfied with 2 percent. "I think we went through a great excercise (discussions over last few months). It was originally going to be around seven percent and we brought it down to two so I can live with that."Councillor Barry Beardsell also voted against the two percent hike, feeling it could have been zero percent.