Victoria city councillors have opted to spend a $434,000 windfall to keep tax increases down slightly and reduce the tax load on business.
Mayor Dean Fortin argued in favour of using the windfall to keep the property-tax increase to 5.6 per cent, although other councillors wanted to put the money into a reserve fund. Councillors also agreed to drop the ratio of business to property tax down to 3.66-to-one from 3.67-to-one.
The windfall came as a result of an increase in property-tax assessments by the sa国际传媒 Assessment Authority.
Fortin said during tough times, governments need to spend reserves, not hoard them. "We know during hard economic times, that's when you dip into your funds," he said yesterday.
In the end, the $182-million budget package, which will be finalized at a later meeting of council, includes a 5.6 per cent increase in property taxes, about $96 for an average home worth $511,500. If the windfall was diverted into a reserve fund, the increase would have been an average of $102.
Fortin also pointed out council has opted to reduce taxes on industrial property as much as 30 per cent this year. Previously, industries were taxed at a ratio of five times the residential rate. That figure has now been reduced to the same 3.66-to-one ratio as all other businesses.
Fortin said businesses like Victoria Shipyards, which provide well-paid jobs, deserve the support of city government.
The ratio of business to residential taxes will eventually be reduced to three-to-one, a figure that's believed to better reflect how much each segment draws on municipal services, said Fortin -- who would even support the province making that figure mandatory across the province to even the playing field between municipalities.
Meanwhile, in Saanich, councillors approved a $124-million budget that will see a property-tax hike of 4.6 per cent, a $77 boost for the owner of an average $538,000 home, sending taxes to $1,749 from $1,672.
Councillors have also approved a move to increase their own pay by 16 per cent, raising each councillor's salary to $31,192. The mayor's salary increases 7.1 per cent, from $78,192 to $83,767.
Saanich council salaries are set annually based on average council pay in similar-sized municipalities.
The increases will get final approval at a future meeting of council.
