Fernie city council has officially adopted the five year financial plan, including a tax levy increase of 6.1 per cent for the 2024 budget cycle.
Mayor Nic Milligan said he was pleased with the final number that council settled on, as they were able to bring the tax levy down from a 9.5 per cent increase by using $297,000 in remaining Covid Safe Restart grant money to offset increased operating costs from the pool.
More money is required to operate the pool now that it has returned to pre-pandemic service levels and has a busier schedule, and the grant money was distributed to local governments in B.C to help communities recover from the economic shutdown.
Milligan said the tax levy allows the city to continue to provide the same level of services and still have money to save.
“We have to always consider the quality, the range of services that we provide, that any decrease in tax or reduction in overall spending means a reduction in services. This strikes a nice balance between maintaining the services that we provide and putting money away in reserves,” he said.
READ MORE: City of Fernie proposes 6.1% tax rate increase for 2024
The financial plan bylaw was officially adopted last month after a close vote from council. Milligan and Councillors Kyle Hamilton, Kevin McIsaac and Troy Nixon were in favour of adoption, while Councillors Tracey Audia-Kelly, Harsh Ramadass and Ted Shoesmith were in opposition.
Audia-Kelly said she would have liked to see a more modest tax increase under five per cent.
“Funding our reserves is important, but that being said, we need to kind of strike a balance of putting money away and also what can people afford,” she said.
“It’s tough out there. I’m concerned about young families. I’m concerned about seniors. Does an extra few hundred dollars on your taxes mean that your child can’t dance or play hockey or soccer?”
Both Audia-Kelly and Ramadass said results from the Citizen Satisfaction Survey on tax and service preferences swayed their decision.
The survey was released by the city last year to gauge residents’ perspectives on its programs and services, public engagement, and communication. It garnered responses from 476 adult residents and 38 youths ages 13 to 18.
Nearly half of respondents indicated they wanted the city to only apply inflationary increases to taxes, and maintain the current level of services and programs rather than adding more.
Housing and affordability were the top two concerns that residents noted. Over 60 per cent of adults and youth indicated that affordability was a pressing issue, and more than 65 per cent of adults and 55 per cent of youth said the same for housing.
“For me, those were two drivers that I felt were really important,” said Audia-Kelly.
Ramadass said he would liked to have been given more opportunities to look at the numbers to see how much of the tax increase was driven by inflation versus other factors, prior to making a final decision.
“We are in a high cost environment here. The property taxes in Fernie are already pretty high,” he said.
“I’m really mindful of seniors, single parents, and people who are suffering in our community. We may be a mining jurisdiction. There are folks who makes good money, but there are also folks in our community that are struggling,” he added.