With the declines in both the local and provincial economies, the city is looking at reducing the property tax rate for 2016. It was originally set for a 4.2 per cent increase, but with assessment growth higher than estimated, it could easily fall to 3.5 to 3.7 per cent.
However, at a Committee of the Whole meeting this afternon, city council asked staff to look at how they could reduce the increase even further to 2.5 per cent to give some relief to residents. Options could include changes to the capital plan, reserves, and the 2015 surplus.
The city will finalize its 2016 budget and set the tax rates after the provincial budget is announced on April 14th. The 2017 rate would be looked at again in the fall.