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Kamloops finance director says efforts to reduce nearly 11 per cent property tax hike ongoing

Victor Kaisar
Feb 29, 2024 | 10:57 AM


Kamloops finance director says efforts to reduce nearly 11 per cent property tax hike ongoing

The City of Kamloops says it continues to look for ways to reduce the nearly 11 per cent property tax hike that residents are facing this year.

Corporate Services Director David Hallinan says that includes deferring projects, making cuts, and using reserve funds where possible, as well as some increased revenue due to changing BC Assessment values.

“We’re still going through the budget, we’re looking at a whole bunch of different initiatives and a number of items both revenue side and cost side that are still continuing to play out at this point in time,” Hallinan said.

In November, when the budget was first presented, Hallinan said the city needed an additional $14.6 million in taxation-based funding, a 10.81 per cent or $270.25 increase in taxes for the average house.

A majority of that increase – about $10.2 million or 7.6 per cent – is due to contracted or economic impacts. That includes thihgs like employee wages and benefits, RCMP and BC Transit contracts, system maintenance, and the City’s fleet of vehicles.

“What we are seeing I guess for lack of a better term is sort of the inflationary hangover,” Hallinan told Radio NL in November, “In doing some environmental scanning and market scanning, what we’re seeing is a lot of the contract negotiations are looking to catch up to what happened over the course of 2023.”

Not all of the eight supplemental items presented earlier this month will be funded through taxation, but it could add another 0.6 per cent to the 2024 property tax bill.

Hallinan says on average, a one per cent tax increase brings in about $1.3 million to city coffers.

“One per cent of taxation is approximately $25 on the average assessed valued house, which is in the neighbourhood of about $750,000,” he said. “If you’re above $750,000, it’ll be more than $25, and if you’re under, it’ll be less.”

Kamloops councillors will begin making decisions on the supplemental budget at a Committee of the Whole meeting next Tuesday, March 5.

The City will set its final tax rate in the spring, with property taxes typically due in early July.

“Things are always moving until the final vote is done, and the say is in council’s hand,” Hallinan said. “Hopefully we’ve provided them all the information that they need to make an informed an comfortable decision.”

For more on the 2024 City of Kamloops budget, go here.

Additional revenue sources identified by the City:

  • tax funding growth due to a favourable BC Assessment report ($500,000)
  • other smaller revenue class increases ($50,000)

Additional potential costs savings identified by the City:

  • using existing reserves instead of taxation to fund several capital projects scheduled over the next three years and deferring a few other capital projects ($742,500)
  • offsetting transit costs with help from a BC Transit reserve ($200,000)
  • reducing the budgets for staff training, professional consulting, and information technology system maintenance due to found efficiencies ($1,010,000)
  • deferring funding for additional RCMP member support due to hiring delays ($80,000)