The District of Squamish’s five-year financial plan is now locked in place.
On Tuesday (April 29), council voted unanimously to adopt the budget, which comes with a 5.14 per cent property tax increase.
Officials had initially forecast an 11.3 per cent hike for this year, district financial planning manager Christine Matthews told district officials last month. Council challenged municipal staff to come up with a zero per cent budget increase. That would have required chopping $1.3 million out of its budget. Officials settled on the 5.14 per cent increase, with the staff having sliced $660,229 out of services across all departments, Matthews said.
Based on the average assessment, the owners of a single-family dwelling will see $127 jump in this year’s property tax bill, while residential strata units can expect an $8 increase. Businesses will see a $264 bump in municipal taxes. The overall budget puts money into the district’s future infrastructure coffers, while steering away from borrowing, Matthews said.
For more information on the budget visit the district’s website at www.squamish.ca and click on the Your Government tab. Scroll down and you will find a budget and reports tab.
