Extra cash for new RCMP officers and an additional $100,000 for bus services that failed to materialize were on the chopping block Tuesday as council continued its debate on the 2015 city budget.
Were the tax rate set today, this year’s increase would be 2.1 per cent, or about $36 for the average-assessed home of $344,000.
The final rate will likely come in a few decimal points lower than that because council still has to allocate $800,000 in unexpected tax revenue after a B.C. Assessment review of Kamloops properties turned up $157.5 million in unrecorded growth and improvements.
That money is in addition to a surplus of about $1.6 million, which city staff are recommending council put in its reserves, to compensate for the $1.4 million it pulled out last year to make repairs following a major rainstorm.
As expected, council vetoed most of the supplementary budget items it had yet to discuss, choosing not to spend $135,000 on a new public toilet at the farmers’ market, nor $2 million more per year on snow clearing, nor $1 million on new snow-removal equipment.
For a second time, Coun. Tina Lange tried to cut a $150,000 overhaul of the historic B.C. Sheep Breeders Building on Lorne Street and a $100,000 upgrade to Rose Hill Park out of the budget.
Lange said the city needs to ask Rose Hill residents to chip in for upgrades, which would include new parking and an irrigated green space.
“I look at Westsyde, that raised money for a number of years, brought in partners, and then we were able to contribute to it,” she said, referring to a waterpark project spearheaded by the neighbourhood association. “I think that’s what should happen to Rose Hill as well.”
In both cases, Lange was in the minority, with council voting down or defeating her suggestions on a tie (Coun. Marg Spina was absent from the debate).
Council did, however, go along with Mayor Peter Milobar’s budget-paring plans.
While the city will still ask for 10 new RCMP officers this year, as it planned at its last meeting, Milobar said it’s unlikely the city will need the $160,000 in new funding it was going to set aside for staff increases this year. Should the city get more police, it will draw on its $4.5-million RCMP reserve fund.
They mayor also suggested a $100,000 cut to transit, though the drop in funding won’t affect current service.
The cash was added for 2015 to pay for the city’s portion of a 6,000-hour expansion to regular bus service that BC Transit has now cancelled due to a lack of new provincial funding.
Only Coun. Donovan Cavers made a case for keeping the additional cash in the transit budget, arguing the province might not take Kamloops’ desire for a service expansion as seriously if there’s no money behind the claim.
“I think it’s better to leave it in to give the signal that we think we should invest in this, to make the case that we would like BC Transit to invest with us,” he said.
Council will return to the budget debate on April 14 and will finalize the tax rate on May 5.
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