Penticton property owners facing 5% tax hike in 2024

Property owners in Penticton, B.C., are facing a tax increase next year of 5.3 per cent.

On Thursday, city council approved the increase for its 2024 budget.

The increase will see residential property owners pay an extra $106 per year ($8.90 per month), with commercial property owners paying $414 more per year ($34.50 per month).

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Initially, the tax hike was pegged at 8.7 per cent for 2024, but was knocked down three percentage points during budget deliberations.

“Balancing the need to maintain service levels that residents expect from the city and also recognizing the difficult financial times we find ourselves in has made this a challenging budget process,” said the city’s mayor, Julius Bloomfield.

“Council has established four priorities that this budget continues to support, particularly around community safety, housing and ensuring the city’s infrastructure is maintained.”

Bloomfield continued, saying council recognizes “the need to keep taxes as low as possible and that is why council chose to stay the course to repay the taxes deferred on the original timeline, which allowed us to reduce the proposed increase by three per cent.”

The city says the budget includes an increase of 2.31 per cent to meet operational expectations, inflationary pressures and contractual obligations, as well as a less than one percent increase to meet council’s strategic priorities.

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The city says highlights of the budget include:

• Proposed creation of a director of public safety
• The director will lead recommendations in the city’s community safety review
• A housing accelerator fund to support housing initiatives and rate growth
• Community Centre energy efficiency upgrades
• Advanced waste-water treatment plant Phase 2 expansion and upgrades
• City yards facility upgrades
• Sports and recreational needs assessments

The city also noted that council committed to public safety in 2022, but deferred the tax increase due to tough economic times last year.

The deferral included scheduling the tax increase over three years, with council choosing to stay with that plan.