Council is proposing 3.5 for 2018
Lake Country council held their first reading for the 2018 budget yesterday. The plan includes a tax increase of 3.5% for property owners:
2018 Proposed Tax Increase
The 2018 draft financial plan presented to Council currently proposes a 3.5% tax increase. Of the 3.5%, 1.5% is for
the Transportation for Tomorrow plan. During the deliberations for the Transportation for Tomorrow plan, Council
approved three years of property tax increases for the plan up to 1.8% annually. Upon review, staff is
recommending a 1.5% increase for 2018. This will add $151,874 to the Transportation for Tomorrow reserve. The
remaining 2.0% of the increase is being proposed based on staff's review of previous operating and capital budgets
and current levels of reserves. This will add $247,439 in general taxes for 2018.
The average household value is not yet available for 2018; however in 2017 the average house was $571,000. That
average house would pay approximately $70 in additional tax annually at a 3.5% tax increase.
Lake Country mayor James says a good portion of the money will help the municipality catch up with infrastructure, "We inherited infrastructure that was aging because we were rural and the province had different rules for rural development and they didn't have to put in storm sewers, sidewalks and those sorts of things."
The district will hold open house sessions for the public. The first is Dec. 13th, 3-5 pm at the Winfield Arena. The second one is TBD in January. Also, there will be a survey through an online portal. This will be launched in a few weeks and found on the municipal website.
All the results from the two in person sessions as well as the online survey will be brought back to the Council meetings in February, when they have the 2nd and 3rd readings of the budget.
