No big spending planned for 2010, says mayor

Ron Seymour 2009-10-11 Kelowna Courier:

Don‘t expect to see the City of Kelowna embarking on many costly new projects in 2010, Mayor Sharon Shepherd says.Councillors and civic staff are mindful of both the relatively poor economic conditions, and the fact the taxpayers will likely not be of a mood to put up with significant tax increases next year.“There‘s still a lot of uncertainty around the economy, all of my colleagues realize that, as do our staff,” Shepherd said Friday, the day after council had a closed-door session to begin preparations for the 2010 municipal budget.“So we‘re looking at a year of not a lot of new projects being presented, because we‘ve got a lot on the books already,” Shepherd said. Earlier this year, the city received confirmation of millions of dollars in provincial and federal grants for various infrastructure projects.“So we‘re looking at a year of not a lot of new projects being presented, because we‘ve got a lot on the books already,” Shepherd said.

Thursday‘s closed session was a chance for councillors to get their first look at possible municipal spending priorities for 2010 and beyond. The actual budget-setting session will be held during an open meeting in December.As a result of long-term spending decisions taken by past councils on things such as manpower increases to the fire department, finance department staff had projected a minimum one per cent tax increase for next year. That number will surely change, however, as council goes through the details of the budget document, which runs into the hundreds of pages.

This year‘s municipal tax increase was 3.3 per cent, which translated into an extra $52 for the owner of a typical Kelowna home. However, when other local charges were factored in – for things such as the school district, a new garbage-collection system, hospital and library – the average total property tax bill rose six per cent, from $2,372 to $2,520, after the homeowner deduction.