A special Coldstream council meeting will be held tonight (Monday, Feb. 5) to go over the new financial plan.
The plan, which is for 2024-2028, is projecting a whopping 9.7 per cent tax hike for property owners.
According to the report to council, the 2024 tax increase is attributed to factors “outside of the council’s control.”
“Police contract increases, general inflation, along with temporary tax relief in 2023, loss of daycare revenue, and new shared mapping software were past decisions of council that’s setting in for 2024.”
The report stated that, “although administration would not expect this to be welcomed by residents and property owners, it is the reality faced by the district to operate as a viable local government and respond to present and forecasted needs of the community.”
The typical cost of a single-family home in Coldstream increased by four per cent to $922,00 in 2024 according to B.C. Assessment.
In the prior year, this home would have paid $1,592 in municipal tax. In 2024, the same property owner would be expected to pay $155 more for the year, or $1,747 in tax.
Among the factors that are contributing to the increase is the loss of Coldstream and Lavington’s day care revenue, which projects to increase tax by 1.06 per cent. The second year of the public works facility project foresees a 2.28 per cent tax hike while the police and RCMP contracts, assuming no change in member strength, foresees a 1.21 per cent increase.
The special council meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Immediately following it will be the regularly scheduled Committee of the Whole meeting, which purpose is to give a full first reading to the financial plan.
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