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MERRITT HERALD FREE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
HOT MEAL AND A WARM WELCOME Roger McIntosh and Cheryl Bednar enjoy a hot meal at the Soup Bowl at the Anglican Church Hall on Granite Avenue. McIntosh stops in often to enjoy a meal and Bednar has been volunteering there for about six years. The Soup Bowl is open every Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. to feed anyone who stops in. The program sees about 50 to 100 people on average in the winter months, said organizer Pam Whitaker. Michael Potestio/Herald
BUDGET 2014
City council begins budget deliberations By Herald Staff newsroom@merrittherald.com
City council started the deliberation process for the city’s 2014 budget with a series of high-level departmental overviews at three meetings last week. Heads of different city departments presented their first draft budgets to council on Jan. 20, 21 and 22 to highlight any changes or developments. No departments were seeking approval on their budgets at last week’s meetings. The next budget
meetings will take place in midFebruary and the final budgets will be approved in March. The following is the Herald’s round-up of the initial department presentations to city council. Property tax increase pegged at 2.5 per cent Residential property owners in Merritt could see a 2.5 per cent increase in their property taxes to recoup city revenue lost in other areas of the 2014
budget. City of Merritt financial services manager Ken Ostraat told council that although the first draft of the budget does not show an increase in property tax, there are a few items that will likely result in the need for a 2.5 per cent hike. Tax revenues for 2014 will be $30,000 less than last year as a result of some changes in classes of properties, Ostraat said. New costs the city will
face in 2014 include a two per cent wage increase for CUPE workers with the City of Merritt – who are in the final year of their current contract – and a BC Hydro rate increase, which will come in April. The CUPE workers’ raise will cost $60,000 and BC Hydro costs will jump nine per cent, representing about $35,000 in 2014. RCMP costs in 2014 will also increase, representing another $30,000, Ostraat
told council. “Just those four items by themselves will put us pretty darn close to that two and a half per cent increase [in property tax],” Ostraat said. The tentative hike is similar to last year’s, which was 2.25 per cent. Ostraat told council the city isn’t looking at changes to utility rates. At the budget meeting on Jan. 21, Coun. Clara Norgaard suggested the city
consider using electronic billing instead of paper mail to reduce costs. As the process continues, city councillors will go through each department’s proposed budget line by line and request more information or changes as they see fit. City council will vote on the final budgets in March after another round of meetings in February.
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