RDOS payment from Town to go down

A number of adjustments in how the RDOS does business will reduce the amount Town residents pay taxes in 2012.

A lot of the burden of running the regional district government is being loaded onto rural residents because of a new “time tracker” system of keeping record of who works on what projects at the Penticton office.

CFO Warren Everton, in a presentation to Town of Oliver council, says the cost of government is going down about 11 thousand dollars and therefore the overall cost on the average home will be reduced 2.85% over the amount paid last year.

In 2011, the average tax rate per $1000 of assessed value would be $1.24 going down to $1.12.

Here is a list of some costs for regional services:

911 Call System $25269
General Government $49321
Refuse Disposal (Dump) $55392
Museum $71174
Tourism $14600
Venables Auditorium $33288
SIR $16564
Okanagan Basin Water Board $47983

All grant monies coming into the RDOS will also be split in favour of rural areas as one way of compensating for this shift of burden. The largest big ticket item in Oliver is Parks and Recreation and that budget shows an increase of 2.86%. That is the joint service governed by a society board of directors from rural and town.

Arena $178732
Pool $117954
Community Hall $81307
Recreation Programs $59959
Parks $136519

The overall reduction in dollars (year to year) equals $26,580