A PROPOSED city tax increase for 2013 has shrunk slighly thanks to property tax money generated from a re-opened sawmill.
First estimates called for a tax increase of 2.5 per cent, but that’s been trimmed to 2 per cent because of the re-opening of Skeena Sawmills.
Closed since 2007, the mill re-opened in November and its tax revenues will help ease taxes being paid by other property classes.
City council members pondered new figures at a 2013 budget session last night.
“BC Assessment November the 15th came up with their estimates on the new taxation for next year … So we were a little out in our projections,” said the city’s finance director Rom Bowles about why the proposed taxation increase for next year changed.
The mill’s opening means city tax reveues will grow an aditional $90,000, according to Bowles who presented a revised draft budget to council last night.
Of that amount the city plans to use $55,000 to lower an initially proposed two and a half per cent tax increase which has been attributed to general inflationary costs and wage increases.
Generally speaking every $100,000 in additiional city tax increase equates to a 1 per cent increase in revenues.
Council has been holding a series of meetings aimed at crafting a 2013 city budget.
