Taxes and services: table talk at the Miners Hall
By Sara Golling
Monday night at the Miners Hall, residents gathered with City Staff and Council members to talk about the increasing costs of … well, just about everything. Including property taxes.
Mayor Andy Morel introduced the evening with Rossland’s Land Acknowledgment and an overview of the process, followed by more detail from Councillor Maya Provençal and a brief explanation of the budget and financial planning process by Chief Financial Officer Mike Kennedy, along with an explanation of some of the upcoming large expenditures.
Kennedy explained that the City is aiming for a 10% increase in revenues for its initial draft budget – but hoping that will result in a more modest increase in taxes, because new development should bring in more revenue. He noted that the average actual amount of Rossland-specific taxes – Rossland’s property taxes – would likely increase next year by an average of between $193 and $253 per home, depending on certain variables.
Kennedy pointed out that Rossland is now playing catch-up after “about a hundred years of under-investing” in infrastructure maintenance and replacement. The Utility Master Plan Overview document provides information about upcoming essential infrastructure projects and estimates of their costs.
Kennedy also acknowledged that Rossland’s taxes are only about half the total tax bill, the bulk of the rest being made up of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) requisition, and charges for schools, police, and the regional hospital.
There were tables around the room dedicated to discussion of different City departments – Finance, Public Works, Planning, Recreation, and Administration, plus tables with spaces for suggestions on post-it notes about which amenities residents would rather do without, and which they value highly. Some of the tables had documents that people could take away and study.
Some of the post-it note suggestions seemed to lack information: for example, one expressed willingness to pay for City operations, but “cut the fluff!” One wonders what that particular resident regards as “fluff” – one person’s fluff may be another person’s absolute necessity. Someone suggested that they were unwilling to pay any more for the pool, while others regard the pool and swimming lessons as essential life-savers for our community’s children.
The event was well-attended compared with previous attempts by the City to engage residents in discussions about finances and taxes, with somewhere between 35 and 50 people attending; in earlier years, only about four people have turned out. Perhaps the difference is an indication that more people are more concerned, and/or that the City did a better job this year of publicizing the event.
Over the next while, there will be more opportunities for discussion and suggestions on the budget and the Five-Year Financial Plan.
Early in this event, Mayor Andy Morel announced that Rossland is losing CFO Mike Kennedy after five years of service; he plans to introduce his successor at the next City Council meeting.
