(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)
December 10, 2018 - 5:30 PM
KELOWNA - After a lengthy presentation on Kelowna’s financial status today, Kelowna city council made no comment on the projected 4.4 per cent 2019 tax increase.
The closest anyone came today, Dec. 10, was Coun. Luke Stack who asked why a proposed Infrastructure Tax was set at 1.95 per cent and not two per cent. He was told by finance director Genelle Davidson that it was a number that was comparable to other municipalities and was reasonable.
It will only offset about nine per cent of the projected $477 million shortfall in infrastructure funding by 2027.
“That doesn’t resolve our infrastructure shortfall,” Stack said. “It just takes a step in the right direction. We still need to find another 81 per cent through federal and provincial government grants and other innovative methods to resolve that deficit.”
He did not hint at where he might fall on the magnitude of the infrastructure tax.
Davidson pointed out that a number of other strategies have been proposed and will be discussed further next year.
Council will go through the 2019 provisional budget in detail on Thursday, Dec. 13, after which time a clearer picture of the actual tax rate for next year will be determined.
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