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NEWS: City man in suspicious death identified /A6 DRIVEWAY: Learn all about new and used cars /A13 SPORTS: Excitement runs high for rugby pals /A21
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2.2% property tax increase in Victoria budget Andrea Peacock Victoria News
Victorians, get out your wallets. Property taxes will increase by 2.2 per cent this year – the lowest increase in years. “We wanted to keep taxes as low as possible, because I think the sentiment around the [council] table was if we’re trying to make Victoria affordable for everyone, that needs to include and be focused on our small business community and also seniors,” said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps. Last year’s tax increase was 2.3 per cent for businesses and 2.75 per cent for residential. Before that, the increase was 3.25 per cent. “My commitment when I ran was to keep property taxes in line with inflation. But that can’t be done in one year,” said Helps. “We need to build the tax base.” Coun. Geoff Young, the only councillor to oppose the 2.2 per cent tax increase, felt the lower increase was not low enough. “I believe that this would have been a good year to come in with a tax rate that was significantly below what inflation is expected to be, rather than still be above it,” he said. “I wasn’t going to suggest that we go to zero [per cent], but I certainly felt that this was a year where we could have gone below two per cent.” Helps said she aims to increase taxes by less and less over council’s four-year term. PLEASE SEE: City property owners will pay an extra $65, Page A12
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Royal watcher Eight-year-old Payton Sturgeon, wearing her Royals jersey, is reflected in the rink glass as she watches her team skate through the warmup before a playoff game with the Kelowna Rockets. Payton’s dad Doug is the 10:55 AM assistant equipment manager for the Royals. For more on the Royals, please turn to page A20.