Cranbrook council is still grinding through this year’s budget, with another special budget meeting set for Monday.
Council has had their work cut out for them trying to find a tax levy increase residents will stomach.
Mayor Wayne Price says larger increases are getting more and more common across the country.
“It’s going to be very difficult to keep it under an eight or 10 per cent increase in a lot of communities. I think going forward, that’s going to be the norm,” said Mayor Wayne Price.
“If people don’t want to see eight to 10 per cent tax increases, we have to look at economic development or we’re going to have to look at cutting services.”
Council has approved a number of housing developments in recent years, which should give some relief in the near future, but developers aren’t building yet.
In the meantime, Price says they have to cut services to keep the tax levy down but that’s not sustainable.
“But if this isn’t changing any time soon, where is our community going to be in five years? You can only cut so much before you start to see a significant impact.”
The next budget meeting runs from 3-5 p.m. in council chambers on Feb. 10.
This meeting will have a focus on municipal grants.
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