Tax Rates Set

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C.-  Homeowners in Prince George will be paying $7.01 for every  $1,000 of assessment of their  homes.  That's the tax rate set by Council  this evening,  and it represents an incease of  6.7% over what  was paid last year.  Of course this does not include the  increased tax rates for the Regional District, which will add a further 98.4 cents per  $1,000 of assessment.

Here is the breakdown of where the  money  is going:

The City has lost a tax base in some sectors, for instance,  the ice jams on the Nechako  flooded out some light industiral businesses which have not returned or the assessed values of their properties have been reduced significantly.  The loss of North Central Plywood in last year's fire  had an impact on the tax base for major industrial class.

Examples of certain homes in specific areas of the city indicate changes in assessed values and how that will translate into their taxes for th

Councilor Brian Skakun says he thinks that when it comes to taxes,  the residents of Prince George, get "A good bang for their buck" he pointed to  peer group cities like Nanaimo and Kamloops, which don't have to pay $5 million a year for snow removal.

Councilor Dave Wilbur says that although he will vote in favour of the tax rates, he wants to be on record that  he thinks Council could have done better, as he believes it will be difficult for some people and businesses to find that extra money during very difficult times. 

The Mayor says the tax rate  approved is a reasonable approach.  Mayor Rogers says while  matching the assessment and  tax rates may not be the  perfect way to  collect taxes it is the best way they have to be fair.   "There will be winners and losers  depending on your own perspective,  but we tried to  reduce the  impact on the  major industry and residential will carry a little more of the burden." He says it was an effort to share the burden across the board in these difficult economic times. 

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