The annual tax bylaws were approved by council and by now most residents will have received their tax bill, but approximately half of our taxes aren’t controlled by city council.
For example, about a sixth of the bill goes to pay our Regional District of Kootenay Boundary dues.
At council on Tuesday, Coun. Jill Spearn had a message for taxpayers, particularly owners of single family residences who have seen a jump due to the increase in the mill rate by 4.4 per cent, largely to compensate for 12 and 19 per cent decreases in the assessed values of strata developments and vacant land.
“Part of the reason we’re paying more taxes is that the RDKB requisition went up 8.3 per cent,” Spearn said. That corresponds to an increase in the RDKB mill rate by 9.6 per cent.
Roughly two-thirds of the increase will go to fund the $5 million renovations to the RDKB administrative building in Trail.
Mayor Greg Granstrom noted in the same discussion that the RDKB’s “East End Transit” requisition has increased by 12.8 per cent over 2010 (and is 33 per cent greater than in 2008) “but there’s still no bus to Red Mountain.”