City council approved its 2014 budget last night with a two per cent tax increase for both residential and commercial property owners.
When other government tax collections are added in, the total tax increase for the average priced residential property is about 2.5 per cent. For a home with the average assessed property value of $294,944, the total property taxes including the City of Parksville, School District 69, Regional District of Nanaimo and B.C. Assessment Authority will increase by $35.08.
"This is a fiscally responsible budget which takes external factors as well as future needs into consideration," said the city chief administrative officer, Fred Manson. "The city continues to provide quality services to residents as effectively and efficiently as possible."
In the city's five-year plan, the city anticipates its tax increase will be 2.5 per cent for each year. Budget deliberation meetings were held in April and public input was encouraged in person and through a number of online opportunities.
In a news release, the city said it continues to face external pressures on its budget, which include increasing expectations, the current global economy and rising costs. The city says this 2014 budget balances these challenges and at the same time continues to provide quality services for the citizens of Parksville.
The city says the 2014 budget is aligned with the seven priority categories set in 2012: health and safety, legislation, development and maintenance of municipal infrastructure and assets, protection of private property, organizational welfare, economic welfare and community and social welfare. The city also says its two-per-cent increase allows it to continue its efforts to address the infrastructure deficit.
"It is the city's good fiscal management which has permitted just a two per cent residential tax increase, the lowest since 2010, and two per cent commercial tax increase, the lowest in the past 12 years," said Mayor Chris Burger.
— NEWS Staff/City of Parksville news release