Property tax increase set for 3.6
City council has given its initial approval on next year's budget.
After a day of deliberating, the property tax increase went up one one-hundredth of a percentage point, from 3.59 to 3.6%.
That move allowed council to give money to three items that were originally unbudgeted.
Councillor Brad Sieben reflected on the fact that there are plenty of major infrastructure projects coming down the line.
"This isn't going to stop for awhile – we have aging infrastructure, just look around at the Community Theatre. The Police Services building just was a $50 million hit, Parkinson Rec Centre. Those are the things that keep me up at night, wondering how we're going to pay for it all, knowing that our citizens want it," he said.
"An under 4% tax rate (increase) I think is realistic, and I don't think it's going to change for awhile, if we're going to replace those things as we should."
Mayor Colin Basran echoed those comments, as he spoke about leaving the city in a good place, for many of the young kids who come and tour City Hall.
"I believe I've always prided myself, I know this council has prided ourselves on dealing with the matters at hand as they arise. Because it would be damn easy to say nope, we're not going to deal with it, and we're going to let someone else deal with it," he said.
"That's not the appropriate way to be building communities. Because it means that those kids who tour this place are then going to be left dealing with a much larger problem."
Staff were also directed to use $100,000 dollars from the building reserve fund, which negated the taxation on two other projects.
Councillor Tracy Gray says earlier this year, council heard from people in the community that safety is a big priority.
"When we look at where a lot of our spends are this year, everything from airport hazard beaon towers, parkade security, RCMP officers, firefighters, radios, WorkSafe safety requirements – a lot of these things are really safety related, both for employees and also for the public. That just really seemed to me, to be a theme here," she said.
On the Fire Department side, 12 new firefighters will be hired, along with money to refurbish and add a new truck to the Glenmore station.
2018 will also bring four new police officers, over a million dollars worth of new sidewalks, and another phase of the transportation corridor on Ethel Street.
Basran says he's proud of how the city has been able to address its needs.
"There are 16 municipalities in British Columbia that have 75,000 residents or more. And when you look at the tax rates of all of those communities, firstly – we fall well below the average. We fall as fifth lowest of those 16, that to me is a comparator," he said.
"How do we compare to other municipalities? We're at the low end of the scale in terms of what we actually ask our residents to help us fund, compared to other municipalities. That's something I'm proud of."
At multiple points throughout the day, councillors talked about feeling pressure to cut items out.
Councillor Luke Stack reminded his colleagues that'll only appease a minority.
"I don't hear a lot of people asking what can you cut. When I'm out and about, what I hear is people asking me when can you build it? When can we have it? When will this expand? When will this be completed?" he said.
"There's a lot of citizens who have high expectations of beaches and parks and facilities that they're looking for. That's what I'm hearing all the time, is not saying please cut the budget, they're saying please build the thing that I'm most interested in."
With a civic election also coming up next year, Basran reflected on what could be his final time discussing a municipal budget.
He says when you consider the tax increases under previous councils up to 2014, the average spike has been about 3.7%.
"With this council, it's ben 3.45%. So it's been lower than the average of the previous councils that have come before us," he said.
"So while there may be a narrative out there that this council is a tax and spend, and not very forward thinking and responsible with your funds, the stats actually indicate otherwise. So I would just say that I'm very thankful to be working with all of you, and have appreciated my time going through this process.
A 3.6% tax spike will amount to an average increase of $70 for Kelowna homeowners next year.
Something to watch for will be a report from staff in the new year, which will detail ways that council can fund phase 3 and 4 construction for Rutland Centennial Park.
