CITY HALL – Second round of 2025 budget consultations starts this week

Kamloops Launches Second Round of 2025 Budget Consultations

Kamloops residents will get a chance to share their ideas on the City’s 2025 budget and five-year financial plan starting this week.

The second round of engagement on the budget starts online Thursday, Feb. 13, when the City will publish forums and quick polls to gather public input on eight supplemental budget items.

This morning (Feb. 11, 2025), the eight business cases were formally presented to the Committee of the Whole and are available for public review on the Council Portal.

Residents interested in in-person engagement are also invited to a public budget meeting on Thursday to receive an update on the provisional budget and a short presentation on each supplemental business case. Participants can talk with City administration and council members and complete a paper survey with the same content as the online quick polls.

2025 Budget Information Session
Thursday, Feb. 13
6–8 p.m.
Sports Centre Lounge
McArthur Island Sport and Event Centre

The 2025 provisional budget was first presented to the Committee of the Whole in November 2024 and has continued to be refined, including during a workshopping session with the Committee of the Whole on Jan. 21, 2025. Recommendations from that session helped reduce the anticipated 2025 tax requirement increase from 9.67 per cent to 7.49 per cent.

This figure represents the cost of providing the same services at the same levels as last year while considering new items already approved by Council and changes to regulations, contracts, and rates outside of the City’s control.

The eight business cases presented to the Committee of the Whole today have been set apart from the rest of the provisional budget because they either represent a change to the service level currently provided or offer something completely new.

Public input will be collected online at LetsTalk.Kamloops.ca/Budget2025 beginning at noon on Thursday, Feb. 13, until 11:59 pm on Thursday, Feb. 27. Council will receive an engagement report before deciding to include any of the supplemental items in the budget.

Seven of the supplemental budget items are requests from City departments and one is being presented on behalf of the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association.

“Many address growth and public safety issues and highlight opportunities to combine projects, work more efficiently, and potentially save money in the long run,” the City said.