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Budget

Vernon chamber evaluates city budget with report card

VERNON - The City of Vernon hasn’t received top marks from a local business association, but it’s not failing either. The Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce, which represents over 500 business members, gave the city an overall ‘B’ grade for its financial plan, general manager Dan Rogers said in a statement. The grade was part...

Search and rescue groups could get more funding

KELOWNA - Search and rescue volunteer organizations are a step closer to receiving more funding from the province. A funding model that has been in development for two years is being sent out to other search and rescue groups in the province for input before it gets forwarded to the government. Director Jim McAllister of...

North Okanagan-Shuswap budget cuts ‘gut-wrenching’

NORTH OKANAGAN - Literacy programs, grief counselling and class sizes are all taking a hit next year in what the North Okanagan-Shuswap school board chair calls some ‘gut-wrenching’ decisions to balance next year’s budget. The school board approved two pages of reductions totalling $1.7 million at its board meeting Tuesday, May 12. "We have tried...

Vernon School District budget: What will be cut, what will be gained

VERNON - Three vice-principal positions are among the cuts being made at local schools to help balance next year’s budget. School District 22 announced what’s being kept, and what’s being cut, as part of the 2015/2016 budget in a media release. Three vice-principal positions, one each at J.W. Inglis, Hillview and Coldstream Elementary, will not...

Vernon School District will use reserves to bridge budget shortfall

VERNON - The Vernon School District will dip into its reserves to cover next year's budget shortfall, but it's already worried about what to do the year after that. Once again, School District 22 is facing a budget deficit, this time in the amount of $950,000 due to cost pressures and a $400,000 cut in...

School District 83 facing yet another budget shortfall with little left to cut

NORTH OKANAGAN - Deeper cuts are on the way in the North-Okanagan Shuswap School District.  At a board meeting Mar. 10, secretary-treasurer Sterling Olsen said the district must find $1.8 million in savings to balance next year’s budget. “It is a very challenging financial picture and it looks like we have a number of years...

Surprise construction costs blow new Vernon sports track budget

VERNON - Unexpected costs mean Vernon’s new sports track is more than three quarters of a million dollars over budget. But taxpayers shouldn’t worry about the $790,000 overrun, says Greater Vernon director Mike Macnabb. The extra funding is expected to be recovered through reserves and donations. “We have a very aggressive plan to get some...

What are DCCs and why Habitat for Humanity wants them waived

KAMLOOPS - The confusion over development cost charges and the complexity of the mandatory charge came to a head Tuesday with Habitat for Humanity asking to have the charges waived on affordable home ownership projects and members of the public questioning how they affect larger capital projects. Development cost charges, commonly referred to as DCCs...

Snow clearing remains top of mind in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS - It may be all but gone from our yards, but snow is still leading the discussion at council and budget meetings this week. Stan Stewart recently asked city council to have a policy to remove snow from designated handicap parking stalls as well as the adjacent curb and edge of the sidewalk. There...

Big money spent on big snowfalls in January

VERNON - The bean counters at city hall totalled up the taxpayer dollars spent to deal with the huge snowfalls in Vernon in January and it wasn’t cheap. According to a report to city council, it cost $631,000 to plow the roads and sidewalks, and then haul the piles of snow away. The bill also...

School board and council take step toward open dialogue

PENTICTON - School District 67 has needs and Penticton council has the muscle to get things done so the two got together for a lunchtime discussion Monday to start a conversation. During a short Committee of the Whole meeting that followed, school board chair Linda Van Alphen said the two groups had a good conversation....

Vernon tax hike lower than expected

VERNON - This year’s taxes will go up, but not as much as first expected. After three days of budget deliberations for the 2015 financial plan, council wrapped up with a hike of 3.43 per cent, down slightly from the original 3.7 per cent. “That just shows the amount of work the management and their...

City finalizes 2015 budget

PENTICTON - Penticton city council has finalized their budget after just six days of deliberations. On Jan. 12, 2015 council approved a 1.3 per cent increase to cover a $326,230 deficit. Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said the 2015 budget factors in cost control and fiscal responsibility, in addition to several strategic investments asked for by residents...

City budget ‘bare bones’ despite sizeable tax increase

KELOWNA — Even Kelowna’s mayor concedes it sounds odd calling a possible 3.5 per cent tax increase a “bare bones budget." “It sounds crazy but this is actually a very lean budget,” says Colin Basran, who blames two big-ticket items — Kelowna’s new police station and recent union contract settlement — for the increase. “Both...

Mop up continues on slush-covered streets

KELOWNA – Snow removal crews will be working well beyond their typical guidelines by trying to run a plow over all 450 kilometres of city sidewalk in the next couple of days. That's unusual, in part because the city and residents rely to a certain extent on warmer temperatures to melt snow before it becomes...

Council gets stingy under new grant policy

PENTICTON - Grant discussions highlighted Penticton city council’s desire to reduce perennial grant requests at Wednesday's budget meeting. Council began the day with a list of grant requests totalling $791,876. Their goal was to whittle away $121,870 of that in order to get the budget on track with the budgeted amount of $670,000. By meeting's...

City and RCMP open to policy changes following jury recommendations

PENTICTON - The City and RCMP are actively considering implementation of recommendations made by a jury following a coroner’s inquest into the death of 30-year-old Steven J. Scott who died in police custody two years ago. The RCMP have already implemented some changes after Scott’s death that the jury also recommended be made. One suggestion...

Budget meeting turnouts low

KAMLOOPS - Only about 40 people attended the two early budget meetings this week, quite a bit lower than last year. This year the city added an additional option to interact with staff during the meetings, online conferencing program TeamSpeak, but even with that and Twitter, Tammy Robertson says participation was still lower this year....

Tax fate for local nonprofits in hands of council

PENTICTON - Four local organizations were added to the list of tax exempt properties, even though they didn’t originally qualify under the city policy. Council made a motion to add four organizations—The Paternal Order of Eagles, The Penticton Minor Hockey Association, Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada, and the Senior’s Drop-in Centre—to the...

Okanagan Lake and S.S. Sicamous get revamped

PENTICTON - The Okanagan Lake waterfront will soon get another new look, thanks to city staff who are putting together a plan to revitalize the area around the S.S. Sicamous. Options for the plan were presented to city council last night, who will ultimately decide what they want to see in the new park. The...

Budget talks begin early

KAMLOOPS - It is only August but Kamloops city staff are getting a jump on the 2015 budget discussions by asking council to approve several items for the upcoming budget requests. It does not mean these items will be be part of the budget, it simply means staff was asking council to approve them to...

Overlanders Bridge update moving forward

KAMLOOPS - The city is moving forward on the $9.3 million in repairs needed for the Overlanders Bridge deck and sidewalk, work set to take place in 2015. Originally the project was set to fix the bridge deck at an estimated cost of $6.12 million but early this year staff asked councillors to hold off...

STAHN: Tax payers should find another way

The City of Kamloops spent $45,000 this year on a temporary tax office just to help residents who insist on paying their tax bills in person avoid the construction taking place outside of City Hall.  Does that make sense in 2014? Only 2,600 people used the temporary office at McArthur Island working out to a cost...