Lake Country increasing taxes
Lake Country officials insist higher taxes are unavoidable.
A majority of council Tuesday approved a 2.5 per cent tax increase as part of the 2012 budget.
“We will continue with some of our work on infrastructure such as road safety,” said Mayor James Baker.
“We have such a road infrastructure deficit that if we don’t have money coming in, we get farther behind.”
Baker expects the budget will be adopted soon and that will allow staff to issue tenders for capital projects.
“The sooner we can get going on the Lodge Road (upgrade) work, the better,” he said.
A 2.5 per cent tax increase translates into about an additional $40 for a home assessed at $500,000.
“We may see an increase of less than 2.5 per cent but I am relatively comfortable (with the budget) because it keeps up with the cost of living,” said Coun. Owen Dickie.
“Zero per cent would mean a reduction in service and there wouldn’t be money going into reserves.”
Dickie points out that only 52 per cent of the total tax bill goes to the municipality.
“The balance goes to agencies like assessment, schools and the regional district,” he said.
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