Ladysmith council has reached tax increases they feel are reasonable and asked staff to come back with different budget options.The move came after council poured over their list of projects to decide what will, or not, get done this year.Councillors had an opportunity to reveal what tax increases they felt was fair.In the end, council has told staff they can agree only to a maximum increase of five per cent to residential properties, 3.5 per cent for commercial properties and for industry to not see any increase in payment.The commercial rate also guides the utility tax rate, as utility rates are capped at 2.5 times the commercial rate.Here’s what each councillor gave for his/her margin (Coun. Steve Arnett was not present at this time).Coun. Duck Paterson suggested five per cent for residential, four per cent for commercial and zero for industrial.Coun. Scott Bastian was comfortable with five per cent for residential, three per cent for commercial and zero for industry.Mayor Rob Hutchins wanted to see four per cent for residential, three per cent for commercial and zero for industry.Coun. Jill Dashwood wanted five per cent for residential, four per cent for commercial and zero for industry.Coun. Bruce Whittington said he would be OK with six per cent for residential, three per cent for commercial and zero for industry.Coun. Lori Evans wanted staff to shoot for four per cent for residential, four per cent for commercial and zero for residential.Hutchins said the town has been working over the years to reduce their reliance on industry and commercial.“Historically, we as a community taxed industry quite heavily and they were paying a disproportionate share of our tax base.”Industry used to pay 33 per cent of Ladysmith’s tax base, now they’re down to 15 per cent, which has been lowered over 15 years.In the last four or five years, the town has been looking at reducing commercial rates, which are usually half the amount of residential.Many projects under list of recommended projects were debated with councillors differing on opinions on what should be done. Evans said she wanted to see the Aggie Hall washrooms delayed as they are currently functional.Council agreed that Aggie Field ditching should be pulled off the list at $10,000 and $28,000 can be saved by applying for grants to overhaul the Zoning Bylaw. It was also decided money be set aside for emergency preparedness, staff was asked to confirm the request for an engineering study at the Frank Jameson Community Centre before approving back-up power.From the list of projects for years 2012-2015, council has asked that signage for Wickham Park for $5,000 be moved to this year as the land was a gift.Council has also directed that the secondary road to the Ladysmith Maritime Society be added to this year’s list of projects for $40,000.Council has also asked whether sections of the amphitheatre bank can be stabilized instead of doing the whole thing now for $250,000.Staff is also bringing back to council a detailed report on the vehicle leasing/replacement fund.Council met again on Monday, May 2 to discuss the budget.
