Humboldt can expect a two per cent increase on their property tax bills.
With the passing of the 2018 budget at the meeting on Jan. 29, the city is trying to get a jump on water main and roadway replacements as well as sustainable spending.
This will be an annual increase, says City Manager Joe Day but the city is not sure what that increase will look like.
“We haven’t done tax policy yet with council which will determine how council wishes to apply that general two per cent increase, whether they’ll make it higher or lower for certain groups or on a per property basis or on the mill rate.”
A lot of those decisions are still to come, says Day.
Many increases in other areas are being put in place to get a handle on maintenance and repairs, especially to the Humboldt Uniplex.
The budget for the Community and Leisure Services will be increased by $60,000 as a way to address issues that users have been noting.
Four projects have been approved for water main replacements, with projects on 3rd Street, 6th Avenue, 9th Avenue, and Canada Place approved to be done this budget season. Four projects have also been approved for road
construction with Telfer Place being approved for a mill and pave project, micro-surfacing of 9th Street from 5th Avenue to 8th Avenue approved, Peck Road from 5th Avenue to 4th Avenue approved for paving, and 13th Street from 11th Avenue to the north limits of the 1200 block approved for roadway reconstruction, according to the budget documents.
The city's current debt load sits at $5.1 million as the city works to pay off previous projects. With no new borrowing being planned for 2018, that amount will be decreases by $670,000 by the end of 2018 with an end of year balance of $4.4 million going into 2019.
See more on the city's 2018 budget in the Feb. 7 edition of the Humboldt Journal.
