Powell River property owners will see minimal tax increases in 2012, depending on whether the assessment rate increased or decreased.
Dave Douglas, City of Powell River’s director of financial services, included taxation samples in his presentation of the 2012-2016 financial plan at a public meeting on Monday, May 7. About 25 people attended the meeting, which was held in the Arbutus Room at Powell River Recreation Complex.
A home assessed at $280,400 in 2011 was assessed at $259,100 in 2012. Total municipal taxes on the home came to $2,315 in 2011. In 2012, the total tax bill will be $2,392, or an increase of $77.
City council has approved a 3.8 per cent increase to residential properties and a one per cent increase to businesses. The major industrial tax rate is set at $2.25 million. As well, there is a three per cent increase to sewer fees and charges and a 10 per cent increase to water fees and charges.
City council has already approved a series of measures that reduced the 2012 budget by approximately $630,000. In his opening remarks, Mayor Dave Formosa explained money from the tax and utility fee hikes will be put into reserves for asset management and replacement and maintenance on infrastructure. “That’s the good news,” he said. “Finally we can start taking care of things and, as I’ve been saying, in 10 or 20 years, not leaving our children and grandchildren with a disintegrating community, to ponder over what they are going to do.”
Addressing the cuts that council approved, Formosa said as the city moves forward, if it finds that some of the decisions look good on paper, but are not working out, there is no reason why they can’t be changed. “They’re not poured in concrete and rebar,” he said. “We’re just taking these kinds of steps. We want to take more of them. But if we find that just didn’t work out, it’s not happening, we’ll be able to re-look at things.”
Councillor Chris McNaughton, who holds the finance portfolio, said that in addition to a service and operations review, council has started a process of strategic planning, “something we have not done as effectively as we should have.”
The city has also started developing a 20-year capital plan, which will enable it to address the issue of financing asset replacement. “This council has deliberately worked at keeping the tax increase low, addressing all of the fiscal shortfalls through budget restraint and dedicating all of the tax increase to asset replacement and sustainable infrastructure,” he said.
The city will be collecting about $14.2 million from taxes in 2012. Total city revenues for 2012 come to about $24 million.
Expenses for general government, transportation services, environment and public health, protective services, recreation and cultural services and interest payments total about $18.8 million.
The city has about $5.2 million in capital projects planned for 2012, work that is funded from reserves, grants or fees. About $1.8 million is for general operating fund projects carried over to 2012, $290,409 in water projects carried over, and $692,170 in sewer projects carried over. The total 2012 capital and projects and 2011 projects carried over to 2012 is just over $8 million.
The bylaws linked to the financial plan, including the annual tax rate, utility fees and five-year financial plan, have to be adopted before May 15. There are two special council meetings scheduled, the first at 5:30 pm tonight, Wednesday, May 9 and the second at 9 am on Monday, May 14.
