Vernon's mayor says they're still trying to get the new budget down to around the cost of living, or two-point-three percent.. The elected reps have a way to go as it ended discussions Monday at a 6.3 percent hike. Mayor Rob Sawatzky
says 600-thousand dollars will be spent converting the library into office space for city staff once the new library is done. "It's a good investment. It takes staff that are in leased space and
moves them into your own building for a good 20 to 30 years into the
future." He says the city is currently paying $60,000 a year to lease space
for city staff in various buildings around town as they can't all fit
into the City Hall space. Councillor Bob Spiers notes at one point Monday the tax hike was above 8 percent. He says says the next step will be to focus of areas where spending can be chopped. "Basically that should be the nut we have to crack right now." Council also approved spending on road rehab projects, and
80-thousand for a core service review which could start by the spring. Sawatzky says the core review is a good use of taxpayers spending. "I think so. The city's budget runs at around 60 million dollars so that's a fraction of less than one percent." Sawatzky says the core review, which will closely examined each city
service and the costs, could start as early as April once the new
administrator is hired and has had a bit of time on the job.
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