Wayne Moore - Castanet Mar 22, 2011 / 12:00 pm
Penticton taxpayers are getting a break. After months of slashing both services and staff, City Council has approved a 0.5 per cent budget decrease for 2011. In order to balance the budget, council also elected to transfer the 2010 budget surplus of $494,000 to the 2011 budget. The 2011 budget was approved by a 4-2 vote with Councillors Judy Sentes and Andrew Jakubeit voting against. "I am not supporting this. I think that a .5 decrease is not in the best interest of our community at all,"Sentes told Council. "I think they would have rather we put that .5 back into services that they had lost." Sentes says she would have been comfortable with a zero budget or a slight increase. She says history shows there is a need to have increases. "I have heard from the community that they too have a concern with the fact that budgets that are low and then suddenly in one year you hit a significant increase. It is a very difficult process to budget in that way in my opinion." Sentes says a .5 per cent increase will be negligible to taxpayers. "I would much have rather seen them give the community a break on costing of services at the Community Centre for example." Penticton taxpayers will go to the polls in November to elect a new mayor and council but Sentes wouldn't go so far as to say this is an election style budget. "I suppose there is always conjecture about that. I guess November will tell the tale."
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