After two days of budget deliberations, Summerland鈥檚 mayor and council have proposed a 7.25 per cent property tax rate increase for 2025.
This is significantly lower than the staff recommendation of a 9.27 per cent increase, but it will still have an effect on Summerland residents.
For a typical single-family home in Summerland, with an assessed value of $878,808, the increase will add $129.95 in taxes in 2025. This includes $31.11 attributed to new debt payments for the Prairie Valley Road upgrade.
According to the municipality, Summerland's taxes are lower than in other Okanagan communities.
A house in Summerland with an assessed value of $850,000 would have a tax bill of $2,112.31. In 91大黄鸭, a house with the same assessed value would have a property tax bill of $2,332.61. In Peachland, the tax bill would be $2,536.57, in Vernon it would be $2,740.01 and in Penticton, it would be $2,937.47.
鈥淗istorically, council has set Summerland鈥檚 annual tax rate increase lower than most other municipalities in the region and that focus remained for the 2025 budget despite the district having the same inflationary pressures as other local governments,鈥� a statement from the municipality reads.
鈥淚n particular, the district faces large increases in labour with new union collective agreements taking effect, and in contractual increases such as the RCMP agreement and the curbside waste collection contract.鈥�
Summerland council is proposing to reduce some service levels and add user-pay elements in order to keep property taxes low.
Some of the proposals are:
鈥� Eliminating unlimited yard waste collective days in the fall of 2025
鈥� Reducing the amount of road line painting
鈥� Moving statutory notifications to an alternative means of publication, effective March 4
鈥� Moving the municipality鈥檚 newsletter to an online format, effective April 1
鈥� Charging a $1.50 postage fee for those who choose to receive utility bills by mail, effective April 1
鈥� Implementing a recreation program cancellation fee, effective in the spring
鈥� Increasing building permit fees by $1 per $1,000 of construction value, effective Jan. 1
鈥� Deferring the Peach Orchard Cemetery paving project.
鈥淐ouncil continues to try to balance the need to invest in the community with the need to minimize the financial impact on residents and businesses,鈥� said Mayor Doug Holmes.
鈥淲e have always strived to improve service delivery, so reducing service levels isn鈥檛 something that council takes lightly. We looked for service level reductions that would cause the least amount of disruption.鈥�
Graham Statt, Summerland鈥檚 chief administrative officer, said the tax increase includes 1.7 per cent for borrowing and 0.5 per cent for reserve funds.
In addition, he said that while the rate of inflation is coming down, prices remain high. Some of the purchases made by the municipality have had a much higher rate of inflation than items used by a typical household, he said.
Summerland鈥檚 property taxes have increased in previous years. In 2024, the increase was 5.38 per cent. The tax increase in 2023 was 3.76 per cent and in 2022, it was four per cent.
An open house on the financial plan will be held Wednesday, Jan. 15 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Summerland Arena Banquet Room, 8820 Jubilee Rd. E. A presentation will be held at 6 p.m.
