The Village of Keremeos will host a special meeting on Feb. 18 ahead of its regular council to go over the 2025 budget and planned 3.9 per cent tax increase.
The draft budget was initially presented on Dec. 16, where council approved a request for a partial Full-Time Equivalent position in the administrative department and declined a request for the public works department.
The meeting on Feb. 18 will go over the latest version, and will be held at the Village Council Chambers at 3 p.m.
The tax increase of 3.9 per cent will raise the budget to $1.11 million, up from the 2024 budget of $1.08 million and be about an eight per cent increase over the actual tax revenue of $1.035 million in 2024.
The village also collects user fees for various services, and both garbage fees and sewer fees are expected to increase in 2025.
The garbage fees are going up as a result of the new contract with Waste Connections Canada that the village shares with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.
The expected total increase in collected fees is $75,100, going from $101,250 in 2024's budget to $176,300 in 2025. For residents, this will mean a projected increase to $224 from $130 for the year or from $11 to $19 per month.
Sewer fees are rising more than the five per cent that was initially proposed in the draft budget. Instead, single family homes will see a 10 per cent increase to $275 for 2025, which will compensate for a $75,000 transfer from general taxation seen in previous years.
This will be the first increase to sewer rates since 2014, and further increases are planned through to 2029 in order to bring them up to appropriate levels.
While not included in the draft budget, it was noted that the village needs to adjust its cemetery fees as the cemetery is currently operating at a deficit of $10,000.
The 0.5 full-time equivalent position in the administrative department will assist the accounting clerk and take pressure off the community and corporate services coordinator at the village.
The capital projects budget will also be presented to the public and is separate from the operational budget and tax increase.
The general projects has $2.18 million allocated, with the majority of that grant funded and $516,000 being paid for by the village. Projects in that category include the second phase of the community garden, a food security study, flood mitigation, upgrades and repairs to the public works crane truck, road works and a tree management plan.
The sewer capital budget includes projects being carried forward from 2024 such as the rebuilding of lift station four, and new projects such as a backup generator system for the wastewater treatment plant.
The cost for the sewer projects are $429,000 and are currently funded by the village.
There was also a staff note in a Jan. 20 report to council that they will be looking for grant opportunities as as completing all the projects in the sewer and general budget allocated to the community works reserve fund for 2025 would leave it with a balance of $523,000 by the end of the year.
