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Vernon  

Vernon council chooses tax option that slightly shifts to residential

Slight tax shift on way

Vernon city council has opted to slightly shift the municipal tax burden from business to residential taxpayers.

Council was presented with four different tax rate options at its meeting on Monday.

Council voted in favor of Option 4, which maximizes utility class revenue and shifts 0.5 per cent of tax revenue from business to residential.

Coun. Brian Quiring initially preferred Option 3, which would use the current 2020 business/residential ratio.

After some thought, however, Quiring was in favour of number four.

“Option 4 is the right option, absolutely for this year, I'm totally in support of it,” said Quiring. “I’m happy with it. Normally, I wouldn’t be because we keep nudging it up, but it's appropriate this year.”

Coun. Scott Anderson seconded Quiring, saying that given the circumstances brought on by COVID-19, this option is a “moderate improvement that is still going in the right direction.”

The chosen option would see a municipal tax increase of 2.67% or $42 on the average home, up 0.11% from the increase previously approved by council.

The 2021tax rates bylaw must be adopted prior to May 15,2021.



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