Osoyoos town council has rescinded the controversial 2024 budget ahead of the upcoming town hall to address the massive tax hike.
The budget was rescinded from adoption and reset to third reading at the Jan. 9 meeting but not before residents voiced their frustration at council’s lack of transparency.
At the committee of the whole ahead of the regular council meeting on Jan. 9, two local residents and business owners took the floor to lay out their issues with the budget’s 37 per cent property tax hike and the handling of it by the town’s council.
“To begin I must highlight an issue that has caused confusion and mistrust amongst us: communication or rather, the lack thereof,” said Sara van der Hoeven. “As we navigate these financial adjustments, it is distressing to note the silence from those we trust with our welfare.
“We need to hear from you. You should be front and centre as a good leader would be.”
At the core of concerns shared with the town is the scale of the tax increase set to come in 2024, as well as the increases to their utility rates.
On top of the 37 per cent tax hike, residents are also looking at more than double their sewer and water costs and the combined tax bill for the average home in Osoyoos would go from $3,852.45 in 2023 to $5,366.49 in 2024 under the proposed 2024 budget.
Broken down, on the average residential property with a value of $720,535 the municipal tax rate is expected to reach $1,080.51 for 2024, up $295.56 from $784.95 in 2023 and utilities are expected to hit $824.40 a year for sewer costs, up $444.58 from the previous $379.82, while water costs are expected to hit an average of $1,133.39 a year, up $673.84 from $459.55.
Van der Hoeven called on councillors and the mayor to better communicate not just what is happening with the budget, but the whys and hows behind the increases and expenditures. She also called for more transparency and program to allow residents to track where their tax dollars are going, as well as town hall meetings to go over and explain how property taxes and utilities are set and used.
Another local businessperson, JF Launier, said that he felt the concerns that he and others had shared back when the budget was being drafted and prepared in 2023 were ignored by council.
“We’ve been watching the council meetings and we haven’t really seen you debate any of the subjects at hand,” said Launier. “We shouldn’t have had to organize to be the voice. We had you as councillors to be our voice.”
READ MORE: Osoyoos to hold special meeting on huge tax hike Jan. 12
Launier raised questions of how closely council looked at the budget items, whether they had done enough to weigh which items were necessary instead of just wanted, and said that they needed to do more than trust the expertise of the town’s staff.
“That’s simply not enough when the community at large is at risk of losing residents, losing commerce and even might be at risk of losing schools if we lose the wrong demographic,” said Launier.
After raising the idea of relying on more local knowledge about issues with the sewer system, Launier went on to go after the town’s CAO, questioning his committment to the community and accusing him of placing himself above the residents.
Coun. Johnny Cheong spoke following the delegations, noting that Launier had become a leader and representative for residents who had come together over concerns about the tax hike. He launched into a series of questions over posts made by Launier on social media and misinformation being spread in the community.
The conversation briefly diverted back to the main topic, where Mayor Sue McKortoff spoke up to defend council’s work on the budget.
“We did take notes, we looked at every issue that was brought up, we asked questions and we had a lot those answered and explained,” said McKortoff. “While I understand that it is probably not enough for everybody that wants more information, we do question, and we do spend a lot of time asking questions and reading.”
After McKortoff finished speaking, Cheong attempted to say that he wasn’t trying to single out Launier, but more the community groups he was working with that had shared misninformation.
“You have to understand that your voice has a lot of power,” Cheong said.
Further conversation became muddled as Cheong and Launier began to speak over each other, before Launier ended it by accusing Cheong of bullying him and walking out.
The meeting then devolved as other citizens in room raised their voices over Launier’s treatment and how council responds to questions from residents.
Following the committee of the whole, councillors voted without debate to rescind the adoption of the budget and reset it back to third reading.
A town hall to go over the budget is being held at the Sonora Centre on Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. Registration is required to speak ahead of time, and written submissions are required to be sent in before 4 p.m. on Jan. 12 to be considered at the meeting.
Registration can be done by emailing budget@osoyoos.ca or phoning Osoyoos Town Hall
