Business Class to benifit at expense of Residential Class or will they? Answer at 2 PM in Council Chambers.

Today at 2 PM Vernon City Council will decide on the final tax rates that will be charged for 2007. In order to decrease the burden on the Business Class from a 3.2 ratio to a 2.72 ratio from a residential tax point of view these are the implications:

• If the Utility rates rates are left at their present 6.5 ratio the 15,295 residential folios will pay an average increase of $23.08 compared with $17.65 if the utility ratio is hiked to 17.22 (rate of 40 /1000 of assessed value).
• The average house that would have been taxed 646.44 for municipal taxes (exclusive of fire) at the original 3.2 business tax ratio shakeout will now be charged $31.50 more at the 6.5 Utility Ratio or only $26.00 more at the $40 rate or 17.22 Utility ratio.

Naturally the council could ameliorate (def: to make a situation better or more tolerable) the residential taxpayer by using the more than $460,000 left over from the 2006 operating surplus or the $90,000 from the airport profits over last 3 years etc and eliminate the tax increase of either $353,000 or $270,000.

If the Utility rate does not move to the higher rate this year but is put over and raised to this level next year the 2008 revenue loss if the new Control building comes on line will be $537,842. (That's almost enough to pay for a roundabout!)