Powell River council is not ready to commit city taxpayers to an extra $600,000 in taxes this year to cushion a possible blow from reassessing the mill property.
Council decided last night (Jan. 14) to include it in a suite of options in the second draft of the budget next month.
The money would be stashed away in a reserve fund to stave off a massive tax increase if the Tis’kwat mill property is reclassified by B.C. Assessment from heavy industrial in 2026.
A reclassification could mean a large drop in the amount of taxes collected from the mill site, resulting in other taxpayers picking up the difference.
The city already has $1.6 million in the tax stabilization reserve account – money it got from taxation on the mill in 2024.
Councillor George Doubt says it’s hard to make a decision while not talking about expenses.
“We’re having meetings about one side of the balance sheet separate without considering the other side. We’re talking about expenses without talking about revenue. Because, frankly, these numbers that go anywhere from an 11.4 to a 19.5 per cent tax increase are pretty scary for people,” Doubt said.
The 2025 budget already has a preliminary tax increase of 13 per cent for the average homeowner ($2,915 on a home assessed at $602,061, $336 more than 2024) – council wants to get that down to five per cent.
Councillor Jim Palm told CFO Mallory Denniston the situation is confusing.
“Your ask today is putting the cart before the horse. Until we take a look at the expenditure side, the savings side, we really don’t have any idea where we’re at today. Until we have a very healthy discussion on Thursday and get more facts,” Palm said.
Thursday is the budget open house.
The second draft of the budget is expected by the end of next month.
Mayor Ron Woznow and Councillor Earl Almeida were not at last night’s committee of the whole meeting.
