Council sets tax rate

by Kate Bouey - CASTANET Apr 12, 2016 / 5:00 am
It will cost the average Vernon homeowner an extra $41.15 in city taxes this year. Council opted to have no changes to the allocation levy in 2016 although some councillors pressed for more help for business. Figures show that on a home costing $341,113, taxpayers will pay $1,252.43 to cover City of Vernon operating and capital costs in 2016. Coun. Scott Anderson fretted that business owners should see a reduction in business rate. While acting mayor Catherine Lord pointed out the business rate had been reduced over the past number of years, Coun. Brian Quiring said those reductions had moved at a “glacial speed.” “I'd like to send a message out that we'd like to keep moving it down. There are still a lot of empty buildings in downtown Vernon and it's hard on landlords to carry them and they need help." Quiring said he would have preferred a different levy that would have taken the tax burden off of business and placed it on the homeowner. That option would have cost the average homeowner $93.99 extra in taxes this year.