Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM
Friday, 13 January 2012 20:33
It's still a long road ahead for Vernon council as they work on this year city budget. The elected reps put in two long days, hearing from staff, and making some preliminary decisions. After
Friday's session that went into extra time, Mayor Rob Sawatzky says the
tax hike sat at 3.7 percent, but it's still early in the process. He
says the increase could be cut to around the cost of living, (about
2.8%) but council will have to decide on a looming problem. "We
have an infrastructure deficit of at least 7.3 million dollars. That's
pavement on the roads and sewers that absolutely need to be done on a
regular basis. They are falling apart, and that hasn't been addressed
for a while." Sawatzky says there was a clear message from the several members of
the public who made presentations to council Friday, with people wanting
council to keep costs down. Councillor Patrick Nicol says a request by the city-owned O'Keefe Ranch to increase its funding by 37-thousand dollars was turned down by a 4-3 vote. The ranch's funding will be held at 150-thousand dollars. Nicol says the city's community and discretionary grant programs will continue, but with less funding.
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