Published: April 30, 2009 6:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
A Vernon politician claims the city’s 2009 budget ignores the wishes of the public. Coun. Bob Spiers told his colleagues Monday that not enough time was spent looking at the business plan, and that there was “limited and selected” staff response to input garnered at a public meeting. “There were 70 or 80 people there and we spent five minutes talking about it,” he said. “There was no debate on the business tax ratio.” And Spiers continued to slam the process when he was approached by the media. “I wouldn’t say it was a sham but the input came so late in the process that mind’s had been made up and councillors were battling budget fatigue,” he said.
The tax increase for an average assessed home is 1.99 per cent but Spiers says it will be considerably higher for many homes because of a shift in fire protection taxation and land (not just improvements) being levied for firefighting services. “We’ve come out with a budget that I can’t support,” said Spiers, adding that residents can get a better idea of their tax rate by going to the city website. “They can see how the budget and tax base we changed affects them.”
The only other opponent to the budget has been Coun. Patrick Nicol, and the rest of the politicians defend their actions. “We debated and spent a lot of time on the budget. It’s a fair system,” said Coun. Shawn Lee. Lee also denies that council ignored the comments made by residents at the input session. “I heard it all,” he said. Lee and Councillors Jack Gilroy and Mary-Jo O’Keefe voted for third reading of the city’s tax rates bylaw Monday while Spiers and Nicol raised their hands against. Mayor Wayne Lippert and Coun. Buffy Baumbrough were absent.
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Don Quixote Note: The city's tax calculator has not yet been updated. You can figure out your City Taxes the old manual way by going to Update on City Taxes for 2009
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