Council has tuned in to community concerns and dropped the proposed tax increase from 6 to 5.5 per cent.
That was the way Mayor Ken Melamed put it this week while speaking about the new proposed property tax rate.
“Some would argue that the tax increase should not be this low, but council believes it is representing some of the feedback from the community in setting the tax rate to 5.5 and trying to be fiscally responsible, yet respective of people’s income and ability to contribute to tax,” said Melamed.
He added: “The hope is that we haven’t cut it too low, so that next year we are faced with the same challenge.”
Municipal staff have refined the budget to bring taxes down a half per cent by cutting more than $2.7 million in programs, including a $1.5 million reduction to capital contributions.
More detailed information on the budget should become available over the next week, but a background report on the 2008 budget is currently available on the municipality’s website.
This new property tax rate means that residential owners will be charged an additional $11 for every $100,000 of assessed value.
In other words, an average residence, assessed at $750,000, would face an increase of $82 this year.
And an average single-family home, assessed at $1.3 million, would see a $128 increase over last year.
Also, residents could see a change in their utility user fees, including $85 more for the wastewater treatment plant upgrade and a new $100 fee for the composter and transfer station.
For Whistler businesses, the property tax increase means an extra $35 for every $100,000 of assessed value, meaning that the average business, assessed at $430,000, will have to pay an additional $153.
The tax rate has been controversial since late last year when council realized that if it continues to do business as usual, property taxes would have to increase 14.5 per cent.
Following a heated open house at the GLC in November — which saw roughly 50 community members gathering to voice their concern — council then approved a preliminary budget based on a six per cent tax increase.
However even the six per cent tax increase was contested, with many community members, including the Chamber of Commerce, calling to keep the 2008 budget tied to the rate of inflation. A second public meeting was held at Myrtle Philip school in January to further discuss the figures.
“Council heard that, couldn’t come down to CPI (Consumer Price Index) but requested and directed staff to try and drive that number down again,” said Melamed.
“We are trying to find the right balance between meeting the needs and maintaining our investment in the resort, as well as keeping taxes as manageable as we can.”
Melamed added that while the new tax rate will not satisfy some people, he is hoping the majority of the community will accept that council and staff have done what they can to bring the rate down.
Community member Scott Pass, who attended both public meetings and plans to attend Monday’s council meeting, said he does not question council’s decision making. But he does think there is a real appetite in the community for more information on the rational behind the tax increase.
“I think there was a lot of misconception that people were saying they only wanted two per cent,” said Pass.
“That certainly wasn’t my feeling, and I think very likely council made the right decision the first time and probably this time. My concern was that it was kind of in a vacuum. We just wanted an explanation on why the tax rate was more than inflation so we could support council’s decision.”
Pass added that he does not think the community necessarily needs a line-by-line, detailed account of the budget process.
“Personally, I probably think it would have been unreasonable to go down to two per cent, but I think it would have been easier to support them if we understand what went into their decision.
“The second public session they had at the Myrtle Philip school was very helpful… That certainly went a long way to explain things better and to understand… the process that had gone into the 5.5 per cent decision. It is just a shame the turnout wasn’t better.”
The budget shortfall is not a one-year problem, with a projected shortfall in 2009 and 2010 at $1.3 million, rising further in 2011 and 2012.
Factors at play include the provincial government’s change to the Class 1/6 strata hotel classification, rising labour costs, limited future growth, and changes to utilities operations.
Fiona Famulak, who spoke at the last public meeting on behalf of the chamber, said she did not want to comment on the new 5.5 tax rate until after next week’s council meeting.
She stressed, however, that the chamber is more concerned with the budgeting process, rather than the 5.5 per cent number.
“The process is the important thing here, because we don’t know if 5.5 is appropriate or 6 is appropriate,” said Famulak.
The chamber is meeting with council on April 21 to speak further about the budgeting process.
Famulak added that she is intrigued by the forum on public participation in a municipal budget setting that is taking place on Thursday.
The forum will feature guest speaker Norm Silins who has works on facilitation training at Bell Canada.
William Roberts, who organized the event, said the forum will focus on how to better engage the public in the budgeting process.
“There actually have been very interesting things coming out of communities in South America and the United Kingdom called participatory budgeting,” explained Roberts.
“This is people in local governments much more effectively involving the public in understanding how the budget works, understanding what the different trade offs are, and helping them understand the priorities in terms of limited funds and lot of options.”
Roberts added that there have been various attempts in Canada to use the participatory budgeting process.
“I have been following it and I think, why can’t we do more of that in Whistler?” he said.
Currently, the community can provide input on the municipality’s website, at www.whistler.ca .
Council will consider the 2008 budget bylaws on March 17 and April 7. The final budget will be adopted by April 7.
