Kitchener budget talks wrap up with a 2.54% hike
Posted Mar 1, 2011 09:17:34 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After a long day of talks, Kitchener city councillors have finalized the 2011 budget. The overall tax increase works out to 2.54% or about $76 for the year for the average household.
That number includes the new Stormwater User Fee which was front and centre during the discussions. Council eventually voted to decrease the fee by $5.
A motion by Councillor Zyg Janecki to scrap the fee altogether was defeated. He says “Our Stormwater User Fee, I can’t accept that as being a user fee because what we’re being charged for is the result of Mother Nature’s rainfall on our properties.”
Councillor Berry Vrbanovic was upset by Janecki’s motion saying, “For this to be dropped on the table, is in my view, a significant sign of disrespect to all of us around this horseshoe. This is nothing, nothing more, than a blatant attempt at headline grabbing…”
Council also made several cuts, including $37,000 dollars from The Centre in the Square’s budget. It also voted to freeze the wages of management, councillors and the Mayor.
