File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Noah Rishaug

Budget 2023

Kamloops to see nearly 7 per cent increase in municipal taxes in 2023

Mar 8, 2023 | 5:05 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops city council is finalizing its budget, and this year, the council is raising local property taxes to meet the city’s new spending demands. This year, that tax increase number will be 6.81 per cent for the average household. Between the provisional budget approved in November and the adoption of the supplemental budget released this week, the average home-owning residents of Kamloops can expect to see a tax increase of just under 7 per cent.

A large portion of the increase will finance labour agreements, including firefighter and RCMP contracts. Additionally, a large fund was approved for the Community Climate Action Plan.

“There were a number of initiatives that were previously identified by the council, including the CCAP funding for their community climate action plan. The asset management funding, some increases in RCMP. And then we saw about 2% of that being general inflation impacts on the city.” City of Kamloops Interim Financial Planning Manager David Hallinan explained to CFJC Today.

On top of the regular budget. 1.85 per cent of the 6.81 per cent figure comes from the supplemental budget discussed by the council on Tuesday (Mar. 8).

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“Then we took the supplemental budget items forward yesterday to the council. Council has approved the inclusion of the expansion of the [Community Services Officer] program, 10 additional firefighters for Station 4 in Westsyde. Then there are a couple of small increases around a mechanic for our Civic Operations and the operating cost associated with the fleet vehicles being purchased, as well as some taxation funding for beautification.” Hallinan Continued.

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson believes increased taxation is necessary to meet the demands of a growing city. While the tax increase is unwelcome news for many residents, city officials are hoping that the community will understand the need for these investments in essential services.

“I think there’s a lot of components to it, like there’s the price increase. We need some extra stuff — we’re a growing city. But that’s the way it goes, right? We can always look at ways to get it reduced. There’s certainly areas to get the province to pay for things.” Mayor Hamer-Jackson explained.

“We’re all facing the same inflationary challenges, but we’re also seeing a lot of other issues that have materialized over the course of the last couple of years. And the focus of the budget this year is really how we create a safe and secure environment for everyone in this city, and it was felt that these were necessary additions,” Hallinan details, in support of the budget.

The budget will be further discussed in the next city council meeting. The budget must be adopted by May 15.