Public consultations were held last week by the City of Castlegar to give residents a chance to provide input on the Draft 2017-2021 Financial Plan. A final version of the budget will be brought to council for approval within the next few weeks.
Here is a look at some of the major expenses and features included in the budget.
In planning the 2017 budget, council implemented a strategic plan that concentrates on “three pillars of community strength” — infrastructure, economic development, community wellness.
Residential taxes will increase by approximately $55 per year and businesses will see a one per cent increase. Based on the average assessed value of a residential Castlegar property of $265,994 residents can expect the municipal portion of their taxes to be approximately $1,087. This does not include the reduction for the homeowner’s tax credit.
Not all of the money you pay on your property tax bill is actually money for the City of Castlegar. The city collects taxes on behalf of the regional district, and a provincial school tax, for example. In fact, only 47.5 percent of the bill is for the city, with 32.3 per cent going to the province, 16 per cent for regional governments and four per cent for other jurisdictions.
When you include the amount of taxes the city will collect on behalf of other government agencies, the average resident can expect a bill of about $2,250 before the homeowner grant. If the home is your principal place of residence and you qualify for the grant ($770 for those under age 65 and $1,045 for those over age 65) your final bill should be approximately $1,480 or $1,205 if you are over age 65.
The city will collect approximately $7.87 million in municipal taxes in 2017. Residential taxes account for $3.4 million (44 percent), major industry $2.3 million (29 per cent), business $1.87 million (24 per cent), utilities $204,667 (two per cent) and light industry $53,540 (one per cent). Other sources of revenue for the city include grants-in-lieu of taxes ($485,000), sales of services ($590,600), host financial assistance agreement for the gaming centre ($440,000), revenue from licences, permits, fines, rentals, etc. ($952,450) and project based grants.
Where do your tax dollars go?
If you break down the $1,087 average bill:
$210 civic works
$197 general government
$190 police protection
$150 storm water system
$136 parks/recreation/culture
$70 fire protection
$28 other protective services
$56 planning and development
$21 legislative
$15 general capital
$12 public health
$2 interest and other
Some big-ticket items in the annual budget are:
Salaries (not including RCMP, fire, and wages paid from other budgets such as winter road maintenance and water) $2.3 million
RCMP expenses $2 million
Fire services $752,650
Library $317,647
Garbage/recycling/waste $566,000
Winter road maintenance $503,300
Proposed major capital projects for 2017 include:
Storm water upgrades $3.86 million
North Columbia infrastructure upgrades $4.8 million ($1.6 million coming from the city and the remaining amounts from federal and provincial grants)
New fire truck final payment $462,000
Airfield lighting and electrical system rehabilitation project $818,000