Friday, January 25, 2013

Quesnel Council begins to tackle 2013 Budget

Quesnel City Council, at 7pm Monday in Quesnel Council Chambers (2nd Floor - 410 Kinchant St), will begin the process to deliberate/decide its' 2013, starting with reviewing its' Operating Fund budget

View the report from the City's Director of Financial and Corporate Service (Kari Bolton) here

Also view:

1) Budget Overview - here
2) Council Travel Budgets/Community Support Overview - here
3) 2013 Supplementary Request List - here
4) 2012 Tax Rate Comparison List - here
5) Updated 2013 Budget Schedule - here

In reviewing the above items, a number of things stood out for me:

a) City of Quesnel long-term debt currently at $8.2 million but a number of projects threaten to push that figure higher including future Phases of the West Quesnel Land Stability program and the re-decking of the Moffat Bridge

b) On Tax Rates (Higher number means worse ranking while lower number means better ranking)

Residential - Quesnel ranks #120 of 161 communities ranked in BC while Williams Lake ranked #91 of 161

Major Industry - Quesnel ranks #5 of 78 communities ranked in BC while Williams Lake ranked #2 of 78

Light Industry - Quesnel ranks #20 of 134 communities ranked in BC while Williams Lake ranked #10 of 134 communities

Business - Quesnel ranks #56 of 161 communities ranked in BC while Williams Lake ranked #59 of 161 communities

c) Quesnel Councillor Ed Coleman, like former Quesnel Councillor Peter Couldwell, spent little on travel... just some $20 while Councillor Elliot spent the most at $4,666 of the total $5,000 available.  All proposed travel budgets for Councillors are currently set at $4,000

Finally - Quesnel City Staff recommends that if this 'proposed' budget stands - Quesnel Council will need to raise property taxes by 3.4% in 2013 to fully implement it


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