File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Stop complaining about the tax hike – the days of 2% are over

Dec 18, 2023 | 5:55 AM

I CAN’T WAIT to see what City Hall staff comes up with in the way of ideas for reducing the projected 10.81 per cent tax increase for 2024.

City council shuffled the issue off to staff, asking for options.

One of the usual targets is “inefficiencies.” Fact is, though, that municipal budgets are always created with efficiencies in mind. Not easy to find more of them at this point.

The real options come in the form of services. Public opinion surveys consistently show that Kamloops taxpayers don’t want service cuts and are willing to accept reasonable tax increases to maintain what they’ve got.

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Question is, what’s reasonable? A tax increase of close to 11 per cent doesn’t fit into that category.

The options council is asking for might not be palatable. Things like cutting recreational programs, reducing road maintenance, deferring important capital projects, holding off on hiring for the fire and police departments, maybe eliminating the upkeep of some parks.

In the meantime, some City councillors have decided to blame their budget problem on councils of the past. To some degree, they have a point. I’ve criticized the two-percent solution for the past 20 years because limiting tax increases to that amount has been more of a political decision than a logical one.

Keeping budgets too low can catch up with governments but there’s more to it than that. When City staff presented the 10.81 scenario to council, they explained that a big part of the increase comes from wage boosts for firefighters, RCMP and CUPE employees, and inflationary prices for supplies. No options there.

Be thankful you don’t live in Osoyoos, where the prospect of a 39.3 per cent tax increase has resulted in threats against the mayor and council. They, too, blame it on their predecessors.

The best that can be expected is that the increase here will be reduced by a per cent or two when the budget is finalized.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.