EDITORIAL – Getting to zero will test City council’s mettle on budget

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

WHAT’S THIS, TAX CUTS at City Hall?

You heard it right. Kamloops City council voted Tuesday to keep next year’s budget increase as close to zero per cent as possible. The decision came after corporate services director Kathy Humphrey told them the COVID-19 pandemic has been eating into revenues and ballooning expenses.

The result, she said, was that a significant tax increase would be needed in 2021 to maintain the current level of services and keep plans for new projects on track.

Council had three options in front of them: stay the course and boost taxes, freeze them or spend even more in hopes of stimulating the local economy.

Coun. Denis Walsh wasted no time in making a motion to keep the tax increase to nothing.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.