Three scenarios proposed for tax hikes in Vernon

Nov 13, 2023 | 9:00 AM

Vernon city council has some options in deciding how much to increase taxes in 2024.

The 2024-2028 proposed financial plan outlines three scenarios to increase taxes by between 6.58 and 7.85 per cent next year.

The 2023 tax base was $51,632,242, and the financial plan outlines increases and service level adjustments to bring that up to $56,248,282 in 2024.

All three scenarios include a 3.46 per cent increase for operations, 0.54 per cent for the capital levy, a 1.31 per cent increase to account for pre-approved service level adjustments (SLAs) from 2023, and a one-time change for recreation, amounting to $1.2 million and equating to a 2.48 per cent increase.

Those factors would lead to a total tax increase of 7.79 per cent for pre-existing taxpayers.

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However, the three proposed scenarios then make further adjustments.

The first scenario would see 17 additional SLAs supported at a cost of $1,530,078, most of which have to do with increased staffing. That would result in the 2024 tax rate increasing to 7.85 per cent.

The second proposal would support all the SLAs with the exception of funding two additional RCMP members at a cost of $463,232 from the RCMP contingency reserve, instead of taxation, which would bring the taxation increase down to 6.95 per cent.

The third scenario, similarly to the second one, would also see the new RCMP members funded through the reserve, and would also see $200,000 from the Transit Expansion Reserve used in 2024 and another $100,000 used in 2025 to cover the transit contract increases. This scenario would result in a net taxation increase of 6.57 per cent.

The proposed financial plan will be presented to Vernon city council for consideration at a special meeting Tuesday, Nov. 14.

by Liam Verster

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