Council for the District of Squamish reviewed a draft budget showing a 3.6 per cent residential tax hike during the finance committee meeting on Tuesday (March 2), as deliberations round the final bend towards its May 15 deadline.
The proposed increase would pay for services such Sunday public transit, RCMP policing costs and additional hours incurred by bylaw officers during the Games, according to the draft 84-page document presented by chief administrative officer Kevin Ramsay.
"What we're looking at this year - which is around 3.6 per cent - will be the third lowest percentage increase within the last 10 years," said Ramsay.
"In 2009 council requested that the 2009 budget be used as a baseline for the 2010 budget review process, which is what the finance department has done."
Despite saying in January that "the bulk of the budget work has been done as far as determining priorities and so the remaining work is fairly simple," Ramsay said Tuesday the 2010 budget process has been challenging since the departure of director of finance Ralph Hughes.
"This has been quite challenging without a director of finance," said Ramsay. "[I] give full credit to [district deputy treasurer] Marcia [Collier] and the others, in particular of the leadership team who have pitched in to work collectively to come up with something that get us, we think, within the ballpark."
In December, council completed an initial review of the 2010 through discussions with each municipal department surrounding its incremental budget request.
In January and February, the leadership team completed a comprehensive review of the budget and prioritized items.
"Some items were moved to what we call a medium priority because the leadership team felt that in the scheme of things, they weren't within the realm of 2010 but will be looked at again for 2011."
The district is also considering using gas tax revenue to update the zoning bylaw, the transportation plan as well as the Climate Action Charter.
The public is invited to provide feedback on the 2010 budget via an Internet survey and through a public consultation evening scheduled for 6 p.m. at the downtown Squamish Senior Centre, 1210 Village Green Way, on Wednesday, March 17.
