It looks like a 7 per cent increase in property taxes in the Municipality of North Cowichan won’t be in the cards.
Two weeks ago the budget increase was proposed to be close to 7 per cent to cover a base increase of 3 per cent, two per cent for a pause in logging operations and a two per cent increase to hire as many as five new staff members.
Mark Frame, Director of Financial Services said the Municipality could use money in the forest reserve account to cover the costs of a pause on logging and some budget savings mean two staff members can be hired with no increase in taxes.
That leaves the proposed increase at 3 per cent which is basically inflation plus funds to cover the new employer health tax.
The budget is expected to be adopted within the next few weeks giving the Municipality time to set the tax rates for properties.
The budget has to be adopted by mid-May.
