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1. What impact will the 2019 budget have on homeowners?

• For 2019, the average home is valued at $389,413.

• The impact on homes valued at $250,000, $500,000 & $750,000, is as follows:

2. Was there any public input in the preparation of this budget?

The period for public input begins on February 27, 2019 and runs until March 12, 2019.

The public is encouraged to submit their comments as follows:

• In writing to 216 Mackenzie Avenue

• By mail to Box 170, Revelstoke, BC, V0E 2S0

• Via email to budget@revelstoke.ca

• In person at the Public Consultation meeting to be held on March 7, 2019 at 3pm in Council Chambers at Suite 102 – 103 Second Street East.

3. What is the business planning & budget process?

Each year the City identifies priorities, goals and initiatives that ensure good use of resources and link back to our Strategic Plan. Public input is key to the entire process and residents are encouraged to get involved. Here’s the how the process works:

• Council Members provide direction and feedback on strategic priorities to guide the budget process

• Finance department reviews business plans and budget requirements as submitted by the different departments, and makes recommendations to Council

• Review includes revisions and reprioritization of needs, taking into consideration strategic priorities, associated costs and public input

• Council reviews recommendations and approves budget

4. What is the difference between the operating budget and the capital budget?

The operating budget covers ongoing operating expenses of the City and the capital budget covers long-term investment in infrastructure.

Operating budget

The operating budget includes all anticipated expenditures and revenues related to the ongoing operations of the City. Expenditures include salaries, goods, services, and transfers to reserves. Revenues include property tax and user fees. The shortfall between expenditures and non-tax revenues results in the portion that must be raised by property taxes.

Capital budget

The capital budget includes money spent on building, buying or improving capital infrastructure such as roads, buildings, vehicles and major equipment.

5. Besides property taxes, what other sources of funding does the City have?

Most of the City’s funding comes from property taxes. Other sources of funding include:

• User fees

• Development charges (capital budget only)

• Grants and subsidies from other levels of government (restrictions apply)

• Investment income

• Contributions from reserves

6. How do Revelstoke’s property taxes compare with other nearby municipalities?

The following chart shows how Revelstoke’s property taxes compare to similar municipalities in 2017. (The tax rates for other municipalities have not been set for 2019 and the Provincial database showing the 2018 tax rates is not available)

7. What is the annual operating budget for the City?

For 2019, the operating budget is $22,057,315.

8. How is the operating budget funded?

The operating budget is funded with the following sources:

• Property taxes

• Grants

• Cost sharing with the Columbia Shuswap Regional District

• User fees

• License and permit fees

• Investment income

• The largest funding source is property taxes. The next largest is grants.

9. What’s new in the 2019 budget?

The 2019 operating budget includes the addition of two new positions. One will improve the City’s ability to communicate with the community. The other will allow the City to provide improved customer service to the development community.

10. Why is the property tax increase more than the Consumer Price Index?

The Bank of Canada Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a common measure for inflation in the economy. The calculation uses the "basket of goods" theory where a broad range of goods that are typically used in an average household are used in the calculations. There are eight categories that are populated with a number of items within these areas:

• Food

• Shelter

• Furniture & household equipment

• Clothing

• Transportation

• Health care

• Recreation & education

• Alcoholic beverages & tobacco products.

As we can see, many of the items in each CPI category are not used by the City in the delivery of its products and services. Most items common to households and municipalities are the items that are increasing in price - utilities or fuels, for example. Unfortunately, many of the items that are remaining flat or decreasing are not purchases made in civic operations. Also, in the CPI "basket of goods", there is a lack of construction-related items such as concrete, steel, black-top and any of the related services to deliver these items.

11. Why does the City need a tax increase?

The following represents the need for a tax increase:

• Inflationary pressures

• Impact of previous Council decisions

• Cost of growth

• Addressing mandatory safety requirements

• Catch up on deferred maintenance of capital assets

12. What does the City do to control or reduce costs?

In order to minimize the impact of these pressures, Mayor, Council and Staff are continually looking for ways to maintain or improve both the levels and efficiency of the services the City provides. Measures include:

• Planned capital maintenance

• Grant application submissions and

• Long-term planning.

• The City also reviews revenues and user fees to help offset the inflationary pressures, however, not all revenues are subject to inflationary increases or are automatically increased by municipal inflation due to a number of reasons including affordability, and competitive positions.

13. Will next year’s tax increase be lower?

There are many pressures, which will affect the City in future years, including growth, maintaining our existing assets and inflationary components. Inflationary costs for labour, insurance, utilities and fuel affect the City significantly and place additional pressure on the budget. Every time we add a new park, new road or facility, it has an impact on the Operating budget.

While tax increases are expected for the future, Mayor and Council are committed to keeping tax rates at a reasonable level while maintaining the balance between current budget demands, growth and addressing future capital issues.

14. With all the growth, why do we need a tax increase?

Although new growth does bring in additional assessment, it requires additional resources to be provided by the City for such items as garbage pickup, snow plowing and maintenance of additional roads, community services for new residents and the payment of capital infrastructure for new development