FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Prince George B.C – City Council will meet on Monday afternoon for the first of three planned regular council budget meetings to determine the taxes for the 2024 budget.
The meetings, which are open to the public, are being held in council chambers at 3:30pm on January 22, followed by another meeting the next day on January 23 and then a final meeting on January 29. All of these meetings will have the livestream option available, and the videos will also be archived and available for watching online here.
On Monday Council will receive a detailed overview of operational and capital budgets as well as cost pressures for 2024. For discussion will be a proposed tax increase of 6.24%, with a suite of proposed service enhancements for Council’s consideration that would take the levy as high as 8.23% if approved. A 6.24% increase for an average household represents an increase of roughly $160 (a 1% increase in taxes translates to approximately $25.50 for the representative household.).
The 2024 – 2028 Capital Plan will also be up for discussion and approval.
In October the City launched the budget consultation process with several online surveys and three community meetings. In total 620 surveys were completed, with participants wanting to keep budgets the same in 8 of 13 services areas. A full report on the engagement results was presented at the December 4 Standing Committee on Finance and Audit meeting.
Director of Finance and IT Services, Kris Dalio, said the draft budget maintains service levels, funding for contractual commitments and sets aside funds to reinvest in aging infrastructure. Council from there has the ability to change service levels which would either increase or decrease the tax levy.
“Municipalities have a difficult job. There are always requests for more services and requests for less taxes. Those two requests directly compete with each other, and Council has the unenviable task of trying to strike the balance of those two requests. Trying to meet the right level of demand for service and maintaining our infrastructure, while also being considerate of tax increases knowing the current economic climate is tough,” Mr. Dalio said.
“Inflation over the last three years is around 15%, and our tax increases over that same time frame is less than 11%, which is the lowest among our list of municipal peers. Our representative home tax is also lower than most of our municipal peers. We’re always looking for ways to deliver more with less but the reality is that service levels take a hit if we aren’t keeping up with inflation.”
The tax levy changes proposed in the 2024 Financial Plan include an increase to the general (base) of $5.1 million (4% tax increase), an increase of $1.29 million for infrastructure reinvestment (1% tax increase), an increase of $1 million for snow control (0.77% tax increase) and $600,000 for road rehabilitation (0.46% tax increase).
Residents can provide written comments on the proposed financial and capital expenditure plans up until midday on Monday, January 22. These comments can be submitted here: Your City, Your Priorities 2024 | City of Prince George
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Media contact:
Claire Thwaites, senior communications advisor
Mobile: 778-349-1386
Email: media@princegeorge.ca