Property taxes in Osoyoos will increase by less than two per cent this year if a proposed budget is adopted.

The proposed budget was released prior to a public meeting Monday night at which members of the community were invited to make comments and ask questions.

The tax increase of 1.97 per cent is less than the consumer price index (CPI) for Vancouver, which is two per cent. It is slightly more than the Canadian CPI, which was 1.4 per cent as of November 2015, according to Statistics Canada.

This means the increase is more or less in line with inflation.

On the average single-family home, taxpayers will pay $1,347.95 to the town including property taxes, general debt, fire hall debt, garbage and recycling, sewer and water.

This reflects a $56.40 increase from the $1,291.55 the same homeowners would have paid in 2015.

Barry Romanko, chief administrative officer, said council could make revisions to the budget based on public feedback. The budget also requires council to pass a bylaw to approve it.

In addition to the increase in property taxes, garbage and recycling fees would increase by two per cent and sewer rates by two to three per cent.

Water rates will increase by $20 annually to $334 on a single-family home, an increase of 6.37 per cent.

The town’s general operating expenditures increase to $5,058,454 for 2016, an increase of 3.95 per cent over last year.

Sewer operating expenditures rise to nearly $1.2 million and water operating expenditures to nearly $1.7 million.

Some of the biggest expenses, however, are for capital projects, which total nearly $15.5 million if all of them proceed.

Some, however, such as a $3.44 million project to reconstruct the main sewage lift station, depend on the town receiving federal or provincial funding. Last year the town was unsuccessful in its application for Small Communities grant funding for this project.

The largest capital expenditure is the new fire hall at a cost of $6.2 million. That construction is now underway and is scheduled for completion by the end of September.

The town is also continuing with extensive reconstruction of 74th Avenue, both in the downtown and extending to the area around the new fire hall.

Road construction is also planned in the Richter Subdivision by the fire hall to allow the town to act as its own subdivision developer on this property.

The total capital expenditure for roads is budgeted at $1.89 million.

Other capital expenditures in the proposed budget include:

• $40,000 for sidewalk improvements to Pioneer Walkway by providing a separation between pedestrian and bike traffic;

• $30,000 for improvements to the Osoyoos Splash Park including adding playground equipment;

• $55,000 to improve pedestrian access between Spartan Drive and Gyro Park;

• Up to $82,500 for environmental permitting and detailed design for the Gyro Park pier;

• $50,000 for further improvements at Desert Park using funds obtained by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen through gas tax funding;

• $291,000 to pave the Canal Walkway between 62nd Avenue and Highway 3 and to install underground services for future lighting. Most of this funding, $219,000, comes from the provincial Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI);

• $17,000 to complete a Parks and Trails Master Plan, which was started in 2015;

• Completion of stages A and B of the Gyro Park multi-purpose plaza using $194,000 in RMI funding. Stage A was started in 2015;

• $532,500 for the extension of sewers into the Southeast Meadowlark area to provide service to the new fire hall and to 20 proposed housing units in the Richter Subdivision;

• $420,000 for liner replacement in one of the town’s aerated wastewater treatment lagoons;

• $312,000 for electrical upgrades at Water Station 8;

• $305,000 to install twin water mains between Gyro Park and the Starlite (Holiday) Inn;

• $300,000 for water system twinning for System 8 and 9 in the rural area.

The full 250-page budget document is available on the Town of Osoyoos website at www.osoyoos.ca.

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times