A property tax increase higher than the increase to the overall budget levy wouldn't be fair to residents, members of city council decided Monday night.
During the April 27 meeting, council will vote to finalize the decision made yesterday to establish a property tax rate structure for 2015 that would see the average homeowner pay a 2.5 per cent increase on their annual bill.
"If we are looking at growing our city and attracting and what have you, I think we have to be very, very careful with our residential tax, business tax as well," said Coun. Albert Koehler. "And that's why I definitely would prefer to have the residential tax not go higher than the tax levy as we have set out."
The framework approved by members of council sitting as committee of the whole sets the base tax rate so as to charge the representative home (estimated to be $230,042) a total municipal tax of $1,825 - an increase of 2.5 per cent over the $1,780 paid by the $223,402 representative home in 2014.
The remainder of the tax levy would be picked up by the other property classes - business, utility, major industrial, light industrial and farm - being assessed a 1.07 per cent increase.
An individual property owner's actual tax increase would depend on whether their property went up, down or remained static in value according to B.C. Assessment.
"I think there's people who might be able to afford a bit more but there's people who certainly can't. And I think that as we have wrung our hands around affordable housing I think we have to make sure that we always keep that in mind," said Coun. Murry Krause. "Because of course those costs are passed on, whether you're a tenant or a landlord, obviously you've got to pay that."`
The other options discarded by council involved a structure that would also set the residential increase at 2.5 per cent, but would shift less pressure from the major industrial properties as well as one that would raise the residential increase to 3.43 per cent.
The majority of the city's tax revenue - nearly 54 per cent - comes from residential properties.
Business class properties take up the next largest chunk, paying almost 29 per cent of the almost $90 million tax levy.
The increase only affects the city's portion of the property tax bill. The final figure residents see also includes taxes collected on behalf of the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, School District 57 and the Regional Hospital District.
The city must finalize their financial plan by May 15.
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