Council gets ready to pare budget down

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: December 05, 2008

A starting point has been established for taxes in Vernon, but some officials are already preparing to swing the axe. City staff will present the first draft of the 2009 budget to council Monday, including a 2.5 per cent tax increase. “It’s very preliminary because this will be the first look at it for council,” said Mayor Wayne Lippert of the budget. And while 2.5 per cent is considered to be a cost-of-living increase, Lippert cautions residents that the final rate may be something different. “With the economic times facing us locally and globally, I’d like to see if we can do lower or less. We need to see what the revenues are in there (budget) and what the projects are,” he said.

That is also the view of Coun. Bob Spiers, who will be attending his first regular meeting since being sworn into office last week. “I’m hoping for zero. We will start on Monday and work over the next few weeks until we get a reasonable tax increase or decrease,” he said. Lippert is convinced that the slowdown in the economy may actually benefit the city because construction companies may be more available to do roads and other works. “Infrastructure is important and needs to be done but we can possibly carry on at a lower cost,” he said.“With construction materials, some of the prices have dropped by 20 per cent.”

Staff is recommending to council that a special meeting be held Dec. 17 from 9 a.m. until noon to review the budget. The session would also provide the public with an opportunity to provide input on the budget. “There will probably be one more session in January once the budget is firmed up,” said Spiers. Spiers doesn’t believe a morning session on a weekday will prevent residents from having their say because they’re at work. He points out that one or two people have generally only attended the meetings in the afternoon or evening. “For the number of people that come out, the time (of the day) really doesn’t matter. If it’s important to them, they’ll come out,” he said.