Chamber of Commerce commends City on municipal budget

While public sentiment over an almost 10 per cent increase in property taxes on top of significant increases in property assessments has been none too positive, one organization is giving City Council a thumbs up.
“The Yorkton Chamber of Commerce commends the City of Yorkton for developing a budget in the wake of a harsh provincial budget,” the Chamber stated in a press release.
At its regular meeting April 24, Council passed its 2017 budget including a municipal tax increase of 9.46 per cent.
At the meeting, Shannon Bell, the City’s director of finance explained this included a three per cent increase in capital budget and 0.21 per cent increase in operating budget. The remaining 6.25 per cent increase is a direct response to the provincial budget to make up the shortfall from cuts to provincial revenue sharing.
“With little or no warning, the City was faced with a massive decrease in revenues,” said Brent Murdock, Chamber president. “The only significant way to make up that loss is an increase in property taxes. The Chamber is hopeful that the impact of this increase on our strong and vibrant business community is minimal. An increase in taxes always stings.”
The Chamber also commended Council that the increased burden would not be shared equally by commercial and residential rate-payers, something it campaigned for during the last municipal election.
“The Chamber is also pleased at the City’s commitment to lowering the commercial to residential tax revenue ratio, dropping the ratio from 2.93 to 2.37,” the press release stated.
Bell claimed this brings Yorkton’s ratio more into the middle range compared with other cities in the province.
Nevertheless, Mike Stackhouse, chair of the Chamber’s policy committee worries about the impact of higher taxes.
“No doubt there are businesses that will be hurt by this increase,” he said.  “This is not the best economic climate in which to shoulder a higher tax burden.