Kelowna City Council won't have much wiggle room if it hopes to keep the 2011 tax increase under 2%. The provisional 2011 budget being presented to mayor and council by City Manager Ron Mattiussi includes a tax increase of 1.98%. "Council as a whole did not say come in under 2%. They came to me with a range from about 2% to about 2.5%. Individually there was a range," says Mattiussi. "I looked at that, looked at where we've come since August, got a sense of what they were saying and tried to peg it as close to 2% as I could."
Council will deliberate the entire budget line by line next Thursday. Traditionally, the budget council agrees on will include a tax increase either slightly higher or lower than what is proposed. Mattiussi says the preliminary budget does not include any service cuts, however, he says reducing the budget and reducing the size of the tax increase may lead to cuts in service. "I think to go below that number will mean actual service cuts. Probably to be where we are in a normal year would be an increase somewhere between there and 2.2% or 2.25%." The biggest cuts in the budget according to Mattiussi is the way certain services are being brought in. "For instance, one of these items is landscaping the multi-purpose corridors. They will be slower. If we would have done four next year, maybe we'll do just two. We're going to do stuff just not at the same pace. We're going to do it over two years." The final decisions will be made by City Council, however, Mattiussi says there really isn't much in the budget to begin with.
Council will deliberate the entire budget line by line next Thursday. Traditionally, the budget council agrees on will include a tax increase either slightly higher or lower than what is proposed. Mattiussi says the preliminary budget does not include any service cuts, however, he says reducing the budget and reducing the size of the tax increase may lead to cuts in service. "I think to go below that number will mean actual service cuts. Probably to be where we are in a normal year would be an increase somewhere between there and 2.2% or 2.25%." The biggest cuts in the budget according to Mattiussi is the way certain services are being brought in. "For instance, one of these items is landscaping the multi-purpose corridors. They will be slower. If we would have done four next year, maybe we'll do just two. We're going to do stuff just not at the same pace. We're going to do it over two years." The final decisions will be made by City Council, however, Mattiussi says there really isn't much in the budget to begin with.
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