Council approves 6.7 per cent tax increase

Brandon City Council has approved a 6.7 per cent property tax increase after multiple failed attempts from councillors to lower the increase at Friday and Saturday’s budget deliberations.

The 0.1 per cent increase from administration’s 6.6 per cent recommendation was mainly from council approving weekly recycling and organic pickup and to rent two recycling trucks during warmer months at a combined cost of $168,000.

“I think we did what we had to do,” Mayor Jeff Fawcett said after the budget was approved in a 10-1 vote. “Nobody likes the idea of having to raise taxes, but we have to find stability, and somewhere down the line, people will be grateful that we did.”

The 6.7 per cent increase is the figure property owners will actually pay, while the city officially approved a 7.4 per cent increase, the difference of which is being paid through revenue being raised through growth in the city’s assessment base for new and improved buildings.