3.6% tax increase proposed

Photo: Colin Dacre

The City of Penticton is proposing to raise property taxes 3.6 per cent this year to fund new staff at city hall and investments in downtown safety.

The municipality published its 2019 draft financial plan Thursday in advance of three days of budget talks with council later this month.

Around two per cent of the tax increase has been attributed to inflation and contractual obligations, with the remainder consisting of new spending and projects.

The city is touting $155,000 in new funding to pay for two new bylaw officers, $200,000 for new strategic street lighting, $150,000 for an additional RCMP officer and $30,000 to lease a new shared RCMP/bylaw space downtown.

Chief financial officer Jim Bauer called public safety their “number one priority.” The city spent more than $320,000 on the issue last year outside what was originally planned on extra bylaw patrols and new lighting.

In addition to the two new bylaw officers, the city is proposing to hire two new cleaning and maintenance staff, a records management clerk, economic development staff, fleet services manager and utility works supervisor.

Bauer says the city is working through the retirement of a handful staffers in leadership positions.

“What’s happening in some cases, we have individuals leaving that, quite frankly, we cannot replace with one individual — the amount of work that they do and expertise that they have — we can’t find somebody.”

The budget also proposes a number of expensive studies take place in 2019, including a $75,000 master plan for Skaha Park, $26,000 for a feasibility study of a downtown parkade, $75,000 to investigate power generation possibilities, $100,000 for drought planning and a $15,000 land management strategy.

A “comprehensive development plan” with a $130,000 price tag is also planned, which Bauer described as the next step after the update to the Official Community Plan and will examine infrastructure like transportation, sewer and facilities.

With the loans associated with the South Okanagan Events Centre now paid off, the city is proposing to direct the casino gaming revenue previously earmarked to pay off the arena into the city’s infrastructure reserve fund. The city will contribute $1.8M to the fund this year, up from $1.2M last year.

Including increases to sewer and water rates, the proposed 3.6 per cent tax bump will cost the average homeowner an extra $117 to $158 this year, depending on how council sets the business tax ratio later in the year.

The city is holding a pair of open houses next week giving residents the opportunity to learn more. Drop-in sessions will take place Feb. 20, 10 a.m. to noon at the Seniors Centre and Feb. 21, 4 to 7 p.m. at the Convention Centre.

Formal budget deliberations run Feb. 26-28 at city hall.