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Additional Information -
Inside Out
News from around the horseshoe
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By Bill Hutchins Illustration by Wayne Westfall
Kingston homeowners will have to set aside an extra $2 a week this
year. That’s how much municipal property taxes are rising
after city council approved the lowest tax increase in more than
a decade at 3.27 percent. The increase works out to an extra $85
for the average house assessed
at $250,000.
“About the price of a cup of coffee,” quipped Mayor
Harvey Rosen after three days of budget talks wrapped up in late
November.
The tax increase, part of the $281 million operating budget to run
municipal programs and services,
will cover inflationary expenses, plus a 1 percent tax that goes
into a capital reserve fund for road and building maintenance, and
the last installment of a 0.3 percent tax for the Kingston hospital
expansion campaign. “It’s a typical budget I think you
might expect in an election year,” added Mayor Rosen.
Smiles, handshakes and a sense of relief filled the council chamber
after what many described as one of the least contentious budgets
in recent memory.
Much of the political drama that usually accompanies the budget
process was missing this time after chief administrator Gerard Hunt
presented a budget that met council’s predetermined tax target
of 3.5 percent. Most municipal departments kept their spending in
check with inflation and were rewarded with swift approval of their
spending plans. . . .
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Profile Kingston and Summer in the City are divisions
of Riverview Publishing Inc.
© 2010 Profile Kingston/Summer in the City/Riverview Publishing
Inc.
No reproduction or republication in whole or part without written permission.
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