In a 4-2 vote District of 樱桃视频Council put their final stamp of approval on the 2007 financial plan on Monday (May 14), with the budget calling for a total of $13,340,147 in tax revenue.
The final meeting was extremely brief, lasting less than five minutes with only councillors Mike Jenson and Corinne Lonsdale opposing the plan.
The length of the final session was in sharp contrast to the process that lead up to it, with council spending nearly 60 hours in council chambers discussing the budget over the last four months.
"It is what it is now," said Mayor Ian Sutherland prior to the vote.
Council passed the budget, which calls for and average residential tax increase of 11 per cent and eight per cent for businesses, at the last possible moment.
All B.C. municipalities had to have their financial plans into the provincial government by May 15.
Under the plan the district will have total operating expenditures of $30,603,864 this year.
In addition to the property tax funding, the district will receive over $2 million dollars through sale of services and approximately $12 million in transfer payments and collections from other governments.
As soon as the budget was passed Sutherland remarked that work on next years budget would already be starting in the near future.
"Now lets do 2008's budget," quipped Sutherland.
Under a motion passed two weeks ago, council agreed to begin the first major steps of towards creating the 2008 financial plan next month.
Council is expected to come up with a total budget expenditure amount by the end of June, and deliver it to staff, who will in turn return by September with a financial plan that fits within council's recommended spending.
In addition to the operating budget council gave final approval to the capital budget, which will see a total of $15,697,052 spent this year. Much of the capital budget will be paid for through long-term debt, with $5,928,035 being borrowed for the district's general capital fund.
Both Jenson and Lonsdale have cited the large amount of borrowing for capital expenses as one of the reasons they did not support the budget.
"I simply cannot support the budget as long as we are taking on these massive debt loads," said Lonsdale. "We need to start financing this through revenues."
Two weeks ago council made strides towards shifting general revenues towards capital costs.
After the first budget vote was defeated earlier this month, council revisited the budget and shifted approximately $80,000 to capital costs, bringing the total amount that the district is contributing directly to $340,000.
This year a home owner whose property is assessed at the average of $382,000 will pay $1,389.97 in taxes. That is an increase of $144.97 over last year.
A business assessed at the average of $417,000 will pay $3,723, a raise of $283 over 2006.
Coun. Raj Kahlon was absent from the vote.
