Good news, no tax hike again. Bad news, we will be paying for it some way. I don’t like paying taxes anymore than anyone else. However, this was a bad decision to draw from the reserve funds. You are not doing the residents any favours as some of the council thinks they are.
The cost of living goes up every year but they fail to recognize the increase of costs to the city. To dig into the reserve funds is just moronic. You can’t keep going to the well so to speak. That money should be used as an emergency fund.
I would have rather seen an small increase in taxes to help cover the deficit these past three years. What’s going to happen next year city council? My guess is an increase and its going to be substantial, perhaps eight to 10 per cent. Why? Because now the city is playing catch-up to pay for the increases in costs. Perhaps the city can lend out their crystal ball since they can see what’s going to happen in the future.
Josh Buhnai
Penticton
