Prince George, B.C. – The Committee of the Whole will be recommending to Council that tax rate option # 1 be approved.

In this case, the residential rate would be $7.96961 per $1,000 of assessment.  That rate was the same in all three options presented to the Committee of the Whole and up slightly from the $7.93535 rate on residential properties last year.  In each of the options presented the residential properties will carry 54% of the overall tax burden in the City.

Under that option, the following rates would apply to the other classes (all rates are dollars per thousand  dollars of assessment)

There is little appetite to increase the rates for Major Industry. In past years, major industry in  several communities challenged the tax rates  which led to a plan to ease off on the heavy taxation of major industry and spreading the responsibility among all property classes.

Councilor Garth Frizzell says light industry has experienced a significant  jump in the past couple of years, and he would have liked to  see an option that saw a larger boost to major industry so light industry could have a break.  He called for a motion that  staff  present to Council an option #4  that would see  residential held at the same amount and a "modest" increase in the Major Industry class.

Mayor Shari Green says she would not support that.  "This (option#1) is an increase to every class including major industry."  She says the boost for major industry is already at 2.77% ( option 1) and is not comfortable with the  word "modest" because that  doesn't make it clear just how much more the increase should be.  Option #2 would hold the major industrial rate at the current $46.00 per thousand of assessment, and option #3 would reduce the rate to $45.000 per thousand.

The motion did not pass.

The tax levy requisition is up by 2.5%  with a breakdown as follows:

• 0.72% increase in general operations. This increase is below the  CPI rate of inflation  which is 0.9%
• 0.90% increase in the snow control levy to better reflect the costs of snow  removal
• 0.88% to the general infrastructure reinvestment fund

The Committee of the Whole will recommend Council approve Tax Rate Option  # 1.  .

Once Council has made a decision on which rate it supports,  the  tax rate bylaw is expected to be given final  reading  May 12th, three days before the legislated deadline.