A five hour city of Vernon budget meeting Tuesday night ended with city staff being asked to find an extra 246-thousand dollars--or one percent---in savings. Councillor Bob Spiers says that would bring the proposed tax rate to a decrease of almost a half a percent (.40). "We whittled it down to a minus figure through the use of several reserves and recalculations. That's where it stands now, but it could still change." Spiers is concerned council may decide to add back some money to build-up reserve funds which happened last year. He says the city has enough reserves, and residents want a break on their taxes especially in light of other fee hikes. "People are going to get a big enough increase in their water rates, which will make our increases pretty insignificant."
Mayor Wayne Lippert says the O'Keefe Ranch funding is going down. "Their funding has been decreased down to 150-thousand, and that's fairly significant from what their request was, and what they've had in the past." Lippert says other reductions include council members and exempt staff giving up normal C-P-I pay increases, and cuts to community and discretionary grants. The mayor says the budget will be back before council February 14th.
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