The Town of Lake Cowichan’s taxpayers will face a four per cent tax increase in 2024, council decided at its meeting on April 23.
Mayor Tim McGonigle said town staff and council worked hard to keep the tax increase as low as possible this year, but inflation and other factors always come into play that require tax hikes.
“It’s always hard to juggle the town’s wants and needs with trying to keep tax increases as low as possible,” he said.
“It’s difficult when taxes are the town’s only source of revenue. What’s needed is a new form of funding (for municipalities), like revenue sharing or some other alternative.”
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The town’s tax increase this year is lower than other municipalitys in the Cowichan Valley, with the Municipality of North Cowichan’s set at 5.18 per cent, the City of Duncan at 7.54 per cent, and taxpayers in the Cowichan Valley Regional District facing a whopping 16.35 per cent increase.
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McGonigle said the town is aiming to keep next year’s tax increase in the four to five per cent range as well, but there are a number of unknown financial considerations that may come up, particularly related to the town’s $10.1-million wastewater infrastructure upgrades.
The federal government has committed more than $4 million to the project and the province is investing approximately $3.4 million to add to the $2.7 million the town is contributing.
But McGonigle said costs of building new infrastructure have skyrocketed in recent years and if the wastewater upgrades are not started and completed as soon as possible, costs could significantly increase.
“Parcel taxes will accommodate some of those increases, but I want to get moving on this before those costs go up,” he said.
McGonigle said Lake Cowichan will undertake a number of infrastructure projects this year with the $1.9 million the town received from B.C.’s Growing Communities Fund last year to spend on infrastructure projects.
“These projects include some paving in the community, work to improve our public works building and some other infrastructure projects that we are planning,” he said