1 week Ago
Photo: Samantha Holomay The City of Rossland has laid out and adopted the proposed 10 per cent annual tax increase, slated to occur over the next five years. The city announced that Rosslanders could be looking at paying an extra $581 a year, or $48.44 a month, as part of the city’s proposed draft 2025-2029 Five-Year Financial Plan.
Since the bulk of the City of Rossland’s tax base is residential, the majority of the tax burden falls on the residential homeowners. The increases are as follows: Photo: City of Rossland To maintain fiscal stability, the council has proposed a five-year plan to raise property taxes by 10 per cent each year, with half of the increase going towards covering inflation, infrastructure improvements and enhancing city services. Photo: City of Rossland Rossland city staff explained that the city has endured significant challenges over the years due to aging infrastructure, housing shortages, climate climate-related risks and an increase in service demands.
The infrastructure deficit alone is roughly $53 million, which is in part due to years and years of underinvestment. This year, the city plans to focusing on projects that include a $50,000 asset management service level framework, which will be funded in part by grants. The goal of the project will be to help make more informed investment decisions.
Another $400,000 will be going toward Fire Smart initiatives. They will also be putting $284,000 into stormwater sewer and water system planning to look into development cost charges. The city will also be enabling a Community Reports Review to improve transparency on financial aid for local groups and non-profits.
There will also be $50,000 put towards investing in a new communication strategy. There are several other additional projects that the city is interested in investing in with revenue received from the increase of property taxes. Photo: City of Rossland According to the capital budget presentation, the city has proposed a capital budget of $5.
6 million for 2025, The budget will be funded through a combination of property taxes, grants and reserves. Some of the major projects are as follows: Improve access to and make the Centennial Trail an active transportation route- $855,000 Upgrading facility infrastructure - $677,000 Replacing a sand-plow truck that has reached the end of its useful life- $335,000 Replacing a loaded mounted snow blower that has reached the end of its useful life -$240,000 Adding intersection lights between Redstone Drive and Highway 3B- $120,000 Upgrades to culverts identified as priorities in the Draft Utilities Master Plan- $500,000 Facilitating the advancements detailed in the City’s Recreation Master Plan- $500,000.
