Terrace city council is settling on a 7.64 per cent property tax hike for 2025, less than the nearly 10 per cent in a first version of the budget prepared earlier this year.
Most of the reduction came from a decision not to add $550,000 to hire staffers to help manage the increase in infrastructure spending through the $35 million coming the city's way over five years from the B.C. Northwest Regional Benefits provincial grant program negotiated this year.
But council did agree to hire a procurement manager to more efficiently handle the purchase of goods and services. That will cost $162,694 representing a .81 per cent tax increase.
Key items of the proposed operations budget include continuing the annual one per cent levy - estimated at $201,767 - to better pay for infrastructure replacement, $378,000 to support an increase in RCMP contract and IT costs, $114,790 for Canadian Union of Public Employee wage increases, $102,983 in senior staff wage increases and $114,790 for firefighter wage increases.
Also on the list is $260,421 to hire more RCMP officers, a cost increase that has also been featured in previous city budgets. The city has actually approved the hiring of three officers but settled on budgeting for 1.5 positions through the understanding filling three positions will likely not be accomplished right away.
The total cost increase for 2025 works out to $1.797 million but city council is banking on $250,000 from items such as new construction not previously taxed and grants to bring the cost for taxpayers to $1.541 million. Each one per cent of the proposed increase works out to roughly $200,000.
Based on a 7.64 per cent hike on a home assessed at $461,000, the estimated cost to the homeowner is just over $170.
In a council discussion on possibly making cuts to reduce the 7.64 per cent hike, councillors considered holding off this year on putting $166,660 into an equipment and machinery reserve, a sum that works out to .75 per cent.
"I think there's options that we can get 10 or 15 years down the road, a loan as an option or right-sizing our fleet, perhaps leasing," said councillor Dave Gordon.
But he was persuaded otherwise when told the reserve fund is nowhere near the $7 million level it should be to handle fleet replacements when they are necessary.
"Maybe we can push it down the road for a bit, but if we push it down the road, it's just going to put us in a position if these vehicles start to fail, we won't have all the funding in place [to replace them]," said mayor Sean Bujtas.
Also discussed but discarded was the idea of eliminating or reducing the one per cent asset management tax hit to then shave $200,000 from planned spending increases.
Gordon suggested that could be made up by transferring in a like sum from the regional benefits alliance.
But city finance director Lori Greenlaw pointed out that would just shuffle money from one budget program to another and not actually result in the city building up its own capital reserves.
"The one per cent asset management program is, for me anyway, one of those hills I'd die on because we need to make sure that we leave our community better for the next generation," added Bujtas.
The mayor did single out increases in RCMP and fire department staffing and wages which, while ultimately approved by council, added to property tax bills.
"The thought of adding RCMP or firefighters anytime soon after this is probably not going to be in the cards for a long time," said Bujtas.
He then asked fire chief Chad Cooper and RCMP detachment commander Terry Gillespie about how each service might use volunteers.
Cooper told Bujtas the department has no volunteers. Just last year, the city added to the department's budget to establish a paid on-call program for volunteers so that they are paid when called out and during training.
"We're seeing individuals try out and then once they go through the paces of testing fitness and actually get a full scope of what it entails to be an on-call firefighter, they basically don't pass the fitness evaluation or they just give up and realize it is not for them," he said.
Cooper added, however, that city residents are signing up for the Thornhill Volunteer Fire Department. It has also just instituted a paid on-call program for volunteers.
City manager Maggie Arruda reassured council that although volunteers may be signing up in Thornhill, a mutual aid agreement between the regional district and the city means they'd respond to Terrace emergencies if required.
Gillespie also told Bujtas the detachment does not have any auxiliary officers but several people are interested.
"Once we do get somebody in on the background check and actually go through the whole process, it's going to take some time to get people actually in uniform and on the road," he said. "Even at that, as a full-time auxiliary what you're going to be able to do is still somewhat limited."
The proposed increase of 7.64 per cent for 2025 follows the hike in 2024 of 8.83 per cent, 10.33 per cent in 2023, 5.52 per cent in 2022 and 5.48 per cent in 2021.
Information presented by Greenlaw indicated that property taxes over the past five years have increased by a total of 28 per cent among six B.C. communities of a similar size to Terrace. The increase in Terrace has been 32 per cent.
Council defended its proposed budget at a Dec. 17 town hall meeting.
