Budget discussions stalled

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: February 12, 2009

Vernonites still are left wondering how taxes will impact them this year. Council decided Monday to defer any further discussions on the 2009 budget for two weeks so more financial details can be gathered, including divisional surpluses. “We have to know how much we have,” said Coun. Jack Gilroy. Presently, there is a potential residential tax increase of 2.61 per cent, not including fire protection. What will be determined over the next two weeks is how fire protection services will impact total taxation. “We’re sitting at somewhere between five and 5.5 per cent overall,” said Coun. Bob Spiers. But there could be about $175,595 in surpluses available to reduce the tax impact on residents.

Coun. Patrick Nicol is concerned that the city budget is out of line with the economic situation facing many residents and he points to expenditures that have been added. “We haven’t shown any caution to this point and we have delivered on expanding government,” he said. Coun. Buffy Baumbrough, though, wants the surplus funds directed towards reserves so the city can start addressing its infrastructure deficit, which sits at $125 million. “It’s the responsible thing to do so we aren’t hitting our taxpayers down the road with massive increases,” she said. Leon Gous, chief administrative officer, also told council that he believes the budget is already at bare-bones. “We have really reduced the base. We took a hard look at this, line by line,” he said, calling a 2.61 tax hike “aggressive.” A 2.61 per cent increase would translate into an additional $22.41 in taxes for the average home (not including fire services).