Owen Sound residents have a chance to discuss the 2008 budget. There is a public meeting set for tonight in the council chambers, prior to council approving the budget later that evening. The 2008 proposed budget requires a tax increase of 4.87 percent. Director of Financial Services Wayne Ritchie says the city budget requirements are about 58 percent of the total municipal tax bill, the county levy is 23 percent and education taxes account for 19 percent. Ritchie says the education taxes for 2008 will not be increasing and the county is in the final stages of adopting their budget. He expects the tax increase will drop from 4.87 percent to 3.9 percent, once the county portion is factored in. Ritchie feels the city has put together a sound budget for 2008. He says he would always like to see the taxes lower, but staff and council put a lot of work into the budget. Ritchie says the city has just received 320 thousand dollars from the province for capital projects. He says this money cannot be used to lower taxes. Ritchie says the city has a lot of infrastructure challenges, adding its aging and needs a lot of work.
