Budget Time Starts Today For City

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C. – The City of Prince George will begin the annual budget process this afternoon at 4:30.  That session will outline the budget process and provide information on previous years tax rates.

There will be an opportunity for public input at every budget meeting.

While  it is  accepted that the  operating budget will have to increase by 2.5 percent to maintain  existing service levels ( wage increase, fuel costs  etc  factored into that  amount) there are other   requests for  increases.

The increase requests for various departments under the Administrative Services Category will be examined this evening.  Here are some of the highlights.

 The RCMP:  an extra $128 thousand for positions  to  handle the PRIME  system,

The Fire department, :  Permanent staffing for the rescue truck  ( $245 thousand)

Mayor and Council:  Air Quality Initiatives   ($134,500)

                                     Canada Pavilion at Beijing  ($20,000)

Through the full budget discussions, Council will have to consider requests for additional spending of $3,221,000.  If all were approved, the taxes would have to increase by 7.59% over what residents paid last year.

That  increase  does not include the  taxes collected by the  School District or the Regional District.

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