CITY ISSUES – Rally at City Hall on Tuesday to protest rising taxes

High taxes are the subject of a rally planned for 1 p.m. in front of City Hall on Tuesday (Dec. 9, 2025).

Organized by the Kamloops Voters Society, the rally will focus on “significant tax increases” of as much as $310 or more per household and $2,150 for the average business “at a time when residents and businesses are already struggling with affordability, rising rents and increasing costs.”

A news release says City council is promising to reduce the budget increase by cutting core services such as transit, policing and emergency response (the Dallas firehall).

Meanwhile, it says, council is moving ahead with the PAC, Dufferin multiplex and new RCMP building, representing half a billion dollars in new capital spending.

It said the projects will drain reserves that would normally be available to reduce tax rates in challenging economic times. Going ahead with three major capital projects at once “creates unsustainable strain on the budget and forces cuts or delays to core services.

“Spacing out these projects more and inviting greater public participation and scrutiny around the decision to take on debt would free up capacity to improve core service delivery and lower rates.”