All considered, Town of Osoyoos council and senior administration did a fantastic job keeping taxes as low as possible considering the huge hike in policing costs this community faces in 2017 – and every year moving forward.

When the latest Canadian census results were revealed in early spring, it confirmed the population for the Town of Osoyoos officially exceeded 5,000 residents.

This is good news in many ways, but it hit local taxpayers hard in the wallet. That’s because local residents are now on the hook each year for 70 per cent of the policing costs, instead of the traditional 30 per cent.

Several years ago, the provincial government arbitrarily selected the 5,000 population figure to dramatically increase policing costs to small towns across this province.

Here in Osoyoos, this means a whopping increase of almost $370,000 to $715,000 in 2017.

This number will increase next year when annual policing costs are expected to rise to more than $950,000.

While the figures are intimidating, the bottom line for local taxpayers isn’t staggering as council officially approved a 3.9 per cent tax hike on Monday.

For a property assessed at just over $350,000, the increase in property taxes and user fees for water, sewer and garbage pickup will amount to $138, or just over $11 a month (just over 30 cents a day). That is not unreasonable when you consider the tremendous impact the huge increase in policing costs has had on the overall budget.

The residents of this community are very fortunate to live in a community that is debt-free and has had the leadership from municipal leaders to have the vision to establish numerous reserve funds.

For seniors living on a fixed income, any increase in property taxes and user fees certainly has a dramatic impact.

But the reality is council had no choice when it came to paying for the increase in policing costs and keeping the property tax increase under four per cent is commendable under all the circumstances.

Things aren’t going to get any easier in the future as the price of policing will continue to escalate.

But the RCMP in this community do a wonderful job and we don’t believe there would be any outcry from local taxpayers to reduce the level of service local members provide.

Kudo to town council and staff for putting in the long hours to present and pass a budget most residents can live with and afford.