When it was announced in the fall that property taxes were going up yet again, I was considerably less than pleased.
However in retrospect, the 7.8 per cent recommended by city staff seems like quite a bargain in light of the fact that after the applicable grants, my monthly property tax payment is going up 31 per cent which no matter how you slice it, is a pretty outrageous hike!
Needless to say, my pension income has not gone up 31 per cent or anything close to that, and although I'm no economist, I can assure you that this regular annual increase in property taxes that city council seems to have become accustomed to is simply not sustainable for many of us.
It seems with the many costly projects committed to in recent years, we have here a city council that is accustomed to indulging in champagne whilst governing a populace that must be satisfied with beer.
So I'm writing to ask you to cool it with the highfalutin, fancy ass projects.
This is not Vancouver...not even Kelowna, and we simply do not have the population to support any more costly ventures.
I believe that as our elected officials, along with over-seeing the well being of the city, it is your obligation to represent the best interests of all your constituents, and sticking it to us with increasing taxes every year when so many are struggling just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table is not only not in our best interests but actually strikes me as incredibly tone deaf.
You're supposed to be smart people, so figure it out, tighten your belt like we've all had to do and make do with what you've got.
Thank you.
Sandie Hoberg
