Vernon council members will face some tough decisions when it comes to next year's budget. Staff is recommending against council's earlier pledge for a zero budget, saying that will come at the expense of program cuts. Mayor Wayne Lippert relates the decisions to what every household goes through. "We all have plans that we want to do something with, whether it's a renovation on a house or purchasing a new vehicle, and no different from a regular household, we need to look at it and say, "Do we really need to do some of these things now?" " Lippert says revenues coming to the city for things like building permits and development are down which he admits adds to the challenge. City Finance Manager Kevin Bertles says a six percent tax hike would be needed to keep pace with committed costs for transit, RCMP and wages for unionized staff. Bertles says in a memo to council, no spending hikes could result in the loss of the city's grant programs, and funding for the O'Keefe Ranch.
1 comment:
Nice to see all this new found concern for taxpayer money in an election year.
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