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Wednesday, November 17, 2010
NEWS ▼ KELOWNA
Services vs. taxes: City confronted by budget challenges This is the first of four weekly columns provided by the City of Kelowna describing the municipal budget process. The purpose of these columns is to demystify the annual budget process and provide information about municipal taxation and spending practices. Tom Wilson CONTRIBUTOR
M
ore Kelowna residents agree with the statement: “My city is a great place to live,” than citizens of any other Canadi-
an city. Creating a great place to live doesn’t happen by accident. It takes vision, commitment and it takes thoughtful financial planning. In Kelowna, the bold goal of the annual budget process is to make this the best city of its size in North America. Results of an Ip-
sos-Reid national survey released in September found that 91 per cent of Kelowna residents believe this is a great place to live. The national average was 82 per cent and no metropolitan area from Halifax to Vancouver had higher than 88 per cent agreement with that statement. Kelowna’s weather, lake and surrounding mountains provide a nice setting, but good looks will only get you so far in a popularity contest. What lifts Kelowna above other cities is the
services it offers within the financial limits of the annual budget. The City of Kelowna’s annual budget aims for a balance between setting a reasonable tax rate and delivering services expected by residents and businesses. The current challenge is to deliver services to more areas as the city continues to grow. Adding to this challenge is the requirement for municipalities to be more financially involved in social services traditionally reserved for senior levels of government.
Despite the need to budget municipal funds for issues such as affordable housing and greenhouse gas reduction, the Ipsos-Reid poll indicates Kelowna does a good job of keeping up with residents’ demands. General satisfaction with municipal services in Kelowna was highlighted when Ipsos-Reid asked Canadians: “What is the most important local issue facing your community and the one issue you feel should receive the greatest attention from your local leaders?” In Winnipeg, Sas-
katoon and Edmonton, crime is the No. 1 local issue; in Calgary and Vancouver, municipal spending is the No. 1 local issue. In Kelowna, health care was identified as the top “local” issue, even though this is a provincial responsibility. Pragmatic, long-term financial planning allows the city to adjust to the moving targets of local demands. Setting money aside in reserve funds is one way the city is able to react to growing and changing needs. In 2010, the city’s annual budget was $413 million. Of that, $93 million came from property taxation—so less than 20 per cent of the overall budget. The rest came from user fees, development charges, reserve funds, self-funding facilities such as the airport, city utilities or landfill and partnerships with other levels of government. For an example of how the city stretches tax dollars to provide more services, look at the unusual amount of transportation construction projects carried out this summer. By using $5.5 million
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in taxpayers’ dollars and funds from the city’s reserve accounts, Kelowna was able to commit to $55 million in transportation projects thanks to onetime stimulus and other funding from the federal and provincial governments. Meanwhile, on the taxation side for 2010, the city kept the property tax rate to just 1.6 per cent. With the exception of two years in the past decade, Kelowna’s annual property tax increase was two per cent or less. Kelowna consistently ranks among the lowest tax jurisdictions in B.C. The economy is making this another challenging budget year. In this series of columns, we will give residents information to help inform opinions about the value received for municipal tax dollars. Information about the budget is also now available at kelowna.ca/budget and will be updated as the process moves through deliberations by staff and city council, to a provisional budget in December and a final budget in May. Tom Wilson is the communications supervisor for the City of Kelowna.
Electrical short blamed for start of fire An electrical short is believed to have caused an early morning fire downtown on Monday. Just before 5:30 a.m., fire crews were called to the 1000-block of Lawrence Avenue after fire broke out in a garage. “The fire damage was contained for the most part to the garage, with some minor smoke spread through the living quarters of the duplex,” said assistant fire chief Lou Wilde. A resident from one side of the duplex was home at the time of the fire and evacuated prior to fire crews arriving. “Fire investigators have determined that an electrical short in a deep freeze was the cause of the fire,” said Wilde. The garage sustained about $20,000 damage and about $30,000 damage to its contents.