The average homeowner is looking at an about $20 increase to their tax bill this year.
With the new B.C. housing assessments complete the new price of the average home within the village is $268,122 Keremeos council heard Monday during the regular scheduled meeting.
Councillors approved a 2.23 per cent budget increase.
There are several big ticket projects on tap for 2019 including the manhole repair $353,949 which is pending grant approval and the rebuild of the waste water treatment plant for $300,000 which is totally grant funded.
Other special and capital projects include Victory Hall Accessibility, $20,000, pending grant approval; pocket park, $14,465, park DCC reserve, dike vegetation remediation, $10,000, SCG Reserve; lift station pump rebuild, $6,000, equipment reserve; water repair (6th Avenue and 7th Avenue), $16,082, water reserve, confined space entry upgrade and $9,678, SCG reserve; Liquid Waste Management Plan, $55,000, Community Works Reserve; Public Works Yard exploratory dig, $9,000, SCG Reserve; Asset Management training, $5,000, SCG Reserve; Age Friendly Walk and Talk Program, $15,000, grant funded, evacuation and route planning, $25,0000, grant funded; Community Resilience (Fire Smart), $50,000, grant funded; Flood mitigation measures, $150,000, grant funded.
Transfers to reserves will total $203,516. A new reserve fund is established for 2019 for asset management. Transfers are broken down as follows: equipment $30,000; roads $16,645; contingency $20,000; building $15,000; capital $75,000; asset plan $25,000; and other $21,871.
A full copy of the village’s 2019 budget is online at the village’s website www.keremeos.ca.