Terrace taxpayers are facing extra sewer and water user fee rate hikes and frontage tax increases in addition to property tax increases in 2022.
Laid out over a required five-year financial plan, sewer user fees and frontage taxes would increase five per cent next year followed by another four per cent in 2023, another three per cent in each of 2024 and 2025 and one per cent in 2026 for capital projects.
That would amount to a 16 per cent increase over five years.
Water user fees and frontage taxes would increase by three per cent next year and a further two per cent in 2023, another three per cent in each of 2024 and 2025 and an additional one per cent in 2026, mostly for capital projects.
The sewer fee increase just for 2022 would work out to $8.12, increasing the annual amount to $170.48 a year while the water rate hike just for next year would be $9.50, increasing the annual amount to $246.82.
City finance director Lori Greenlaw, in a memo to council members when they met Oct. 20 to discuss the planned increases, said increases in user fees over and above operational costs are needed to finance sewer and water projects as current revenues are inadequate.
Sewer and water user fees also increased last year with Greenlaw pointing out during budget deliberations for 2021 that fees for each had not been increased for 15 years.
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