By Pete McIntyre

Armstrong approves new tax

Feb 12, 2020 | 5:10 AM

Armstrong ratepayers will have to pay a new tax this year.

Council has approved a 2.5 per cent infrastructure levy to build up a reserve for road and storm sewer projects.

“This will be specified strictly for road and storm sewers which are costing an awful lot of money and we’re definitely behind, like every community, in getting our roads to a good standard,” said Mayor Chris Pieper.

The levy would generate about $50,000 a year, and has been used for a number of years in Vernon and other communities for infrastructure.

Pieper told Vernon Matters the general tax hike for 2020 is proposed for 2.69 per cent, but council has directed staff to try to get that lower.

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“We asked staff to bring it back to us in two weeks, trying to get it under 2.5 per cent. We’re trying to keep each of them under 2.5 per cent so we’ve got less than a five per cent increase.”

Pieper notes the cost of living is in the range of two per cent.

The mayor expects some won’t like the idea of a combined tax hike of around five per cent.

“There is always criticism on an increase in taxes. Nobody likes them. But when you don’t get the services, they are critical of that too. We’ve increased our budget for snow removal going forward. During the past year, we’ve had a lot of complaints about driveways getting filled up, so we’ve built that into the budget to have extra support for cleaning driveways especially on roads that have sidewalks on one side.”

Pieper says if it comes out to five per cent for both of the taxes it would translate to around $40 for the average homeowner.

by Pete McIntyre

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