Council received their first look at the taxes required to keep the city on track.
Andrew McGifford, the Director of Finance said taxes will need to increase by 5% to meet inflation and increased costs for city projects and programs.
He said while Parks and Recreation revenues were down in 2021, building and development permits were up significantly.
Mayor Sharie Minions said they are looking at increased revenue streams as well as cutting some costs to bring the increase down further.
“This council has been really strategic in how we spend money, what we spend it on, where we don’t spend it and generating revenues from new ways like real estate sales where we’ve made significant funds over the last few years, and we’re going to continue to look at all of that, and the goals we’re trying to achieve as a council,” she said.
She predicts the proposed 4.97% increase will be pared down further once the 2021 surplus is applied, along with the $500,000 COVID grant.
“This is the first draft of this year’s budget and as we always do, council will review what’s in it, we had a high level overview today and I’m sure there will be lots of decisions to consider and changes to make to the budget,” she said.
City Council will have further budget discussions before the public e-town hall meeting on March 7th, and the final submission deadline of May 14th.
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