(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

Some Kamloops councillors are having second thoughts about a nine per cent tax hike.

After seemingly coming to one of the last stages of settling what taxpayers are funding next year, they're coming back to slash some big items off the budget.

Some on the chopping block are the new police station, a new bylaw-operated security system and the city's own climate action levy. The plan as proposed would reduce it from a 9.1% to 7.4% increase, saving the average homeowner around $42.

Coun. Margot Middleton said cuts to the provincial carbon tax means less tax money is needed, and it supports an effort to look for further cuts.

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"I believe that now with some changes provincially, in particular, things like the carbon tax, that does change things for us," she said. "Staff have done some more number-crunching... to help us review where we're at."

Staff were expecting $700,000 of city spending on the carbon tax, but that figure will fall now as BC removed the tax.

"This is sort of good news for the city and for council that we're finding ways to continue to try to bring the tax rate down," Middleton said.

Coun. Stephen Karpuk sees the proposed tax cuts as counter-productive, but whether he sees the loss of a provincial carbon tax as a reason to stop some city initiatives isn't so clear. The extra budget meeting was also scheduled ten days before Premier David Eby announced BC would follow the federal government to cut consumer carbon taxes.

"It's a good excuse to have a meeting," he said.

Karpuk said he "voiced concerns" with others on council and argues they shouldn't backtrack.

Though taxes are poised to go up to the tune of around $200 for the average house either way, he said several years of largely stagnant tax rates put pressure on city hall now.

"We didn't get a choice for the police contract, we didn't get a choice for transit, we didn't get a choice for our (union) — all of them are entitled to a wage increase," he said. "But, those are things we've been saddled with. So if we want an arts centre, a multi-rink complex, a new police building, we need to get caught up. We didn't do it in the past. When do you want to pay for it?"

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The $150 million police building will still be on the table if it's cut from the 2025 budget. It's the largest single expense that may be cut, but it's a question of deferring $1.6 million earmarked to set into reserves. 

Other cuts could include a delay to recruiting firefighters for the Barnhartvale station and a reduction to Build Kamloops and climate action funding by half. The bylaw-operated surveillance system, newly approved for this year, would simply be funded through reserves rather than taxes.

Just where all nine on council fall on the spending debate will likely be seen on Tuesday afternoon, but Karpuk's suggestion previous reluctance to change tax rates was echoed earlier this year by Coun. Kelly Hall.

Hall called previous councils "short-sighted" as the decision to build a new RCMP detachment was delayed for years, squeezing a growing police force more tightly into the Battle Street building. 

The April 1 Committee of the Whole meeting where the budget will be debated again was spurred in early March, shortly after approving the plan. Council has until mid-May to finalize the budget.

The city staff report included disclaimers for council that cutting Build Kamloops funds could mean steeper tax hikes in the coming years, and the climate action tax cut would further delay any climate-related projects.

"I think there's an appetite certainly for council to continue to visit the budget right up until the deadline in every effort to bring the increases down as much as possible," Middleton said.

— This story was updated at 8:07 a.m., April 2, 2025, to correctly state city spending will be reduced due to the provincial carbon tax cut.

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