Lake Country residents facing 8.7 per cent tax hike

KELOWNA – Councillors in Lake Country will be considering an almost nine per cent tax increase at their meeting next week.

District of Lake Country council will review its draft 2019 budget at its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 11 to decide if it’s happy with a staff recommendation of a 3.8 per cent general tax increase.

This would be on top of the 4.9 per cent needed to pay for the fire hall approved in the October referendum for a total increase of 8.7 per cent for the vast majority of homeowners.

The two taxes will be kept separate on the tax notices because a few homes are exempt from the fire hall levy.

Of the 3.8 percent general increase, 1.8 per cent goes into the Transportation for Tomorrow reserve fund. The other two per cent will be needed to cover other operating and capital expenses, below the expected cost of inflation at 2.5 per cent.

Based on the 2018 average family home value of $656,000, this will add about $160 to the tax bill, including $90 for the fire hall, $32 for the transportation reserve and $38 for the rest.

Lake Country council will hold its first 2019 budget meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11 at the Municipal Hall.

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