Brace for an increase of about five per cent in your city tax bill this summer.
City council will begin budget talks Monday with a proposed 6.55 per cent increase on the table but mayor and council will likely sharpen their pencils to shave that down. With inflation rising at 4.8 per cent, hefty pay raises for RCMP officers and surging demand for police services, local government is being squeezed to loft those costs onto taxpayers. As a result, there will even be debate on the prospect of saving a few thousand dollars here and there, even though that works out to tiny fractions of one per cent from the annual budget.
This is an election year and for any of this current group seeking another four-year term, they need to walk the tightrope of responsible spending increases and careful cutting. It will be interesting to see if any member of council steps up to challenge administration and/or the rest of council with some bold ideas to reduce the tax burden. “I had no choice, I had to pass on the increased costs with higher taxes” won’t sit well with already grumpy voters this fall.
In other words, the campaign for mayor and council starts Monday, not just for the incumbents but for residents considering a campaign run because they think they could do better (or at least not any worse) than the current slate. The speeches at the council table will give not-so-subtle hints who is running, as will the social media posts of local residents next week.
