Current ads
Jobs
Tenders
Notices
General

Click below

Property tax decision likely next week

Council to deliberate on long-delayed budget

DAN BENOIT

Iqaluit property owners will likely find out next week if they’ll face a tax increase when Iqaluit City Council begins deliberations on a long-delayed budget.

Public proceedings for the 2007 Iqaluit city budget begin Monday, January 21 at 9 a.m. in the council chambers.

The talks are scheduled for two days, says Clinton Mauthe, the city’s chief administrative officer, but “hopefully it won’t take that long.”

It’s not yet clear if the city will propose to increase taxes, as they did last year, Mauthe said this week.

“I won’t know that until Monday. They’re still working on it.”

The finance director will present the budget to council and each department head will be there to discuss their part of the budget.

“We’ll be looking at our capital budget and our operating budget,” Mauthe said.

Iqaluit council missed the year-end deadline for approving the annual budget for the second year in a row this past December.

A special council meeting to approve an interim budget for the month of January, 2007 was held Dec. 22.

The city’s interim budget had to be passed by the end of the year to put the city in a position to operate legally, Mauthe said before Christmas.

Last year’s budget was late as well. A problem with new computer software was cited as one of the reasons why the 2006 budget was not presented until Jan. 16.

When the budget was approved last February, Iqaluit homeowners saw an eight per cent increase in property taxes and water rates.

Rising inflation rates, fuel costs and power bills were a few reasons city officials cited for needing to tax $620,000 in extra revenue from property owners last year. They argued it was either cut services, or pass the bill on to homeowners.

They chose the second option, approving an eight per cent increase in taxes and a five per cent hike in water rates.

TOP

Advertising
Specs, rates,
& maps
Multi-paper
buying services
About the market
E-mail ad dept

More Information