Peter McIntyre Tuesday, 28 April 2009 107.5 KISSFM:

A Vernon councillor is disappointed public input on the city's new budget, wasn't given more weight. Bob Spiers says concerns about a change in the tax base drew more than 70 people to City Hall a few weeks ago, but had no effect on a majority of council. "And we spent five minutes talking about that, of which probably four and a half minutes were myself and Councillor Nicol trying to raise some debate on those questions. That really disappointed me." The rookie councillor who attended many budget and council meetings as a citizen, has some questions about the budget process. "I wouldn't say it's a sham but maybe what happened is the public's input came so late in the process, that minds had been made up. The budget had been decided on and councillors were probably battling budget fatigue." Spiers dismisses the city's claim of a 1.99 percent overall tax hike. He says the average home will pay 5.45 percent more, before the NORD reduction, but notes every house will be different.
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Don Quixote Note: You can go to Update on City Taxes for 2009
for the rates that you can use to calculate your City Taxes for your home or business. The City's calculator hopefully will be online shortly so your complete tax bill can be calculated.