By Mayor Julius Bloomfield
Earlier this year, Council refocused its priorities to two key areas: Safe and Resilient and Livable and Accessible. That decision was made after hearing from you and in turn directly shaped the proposed 2025-2029 Financial and Corporate Business Plan, as the budget is formally known.
As a Council, we want to understand your concerns, hear your ideas on how we can continue to improve our community and share the steps we are taking to address the needs of our residents.
The upcoming Council Open on October 29 is an opportunity for us to connect with the community to discuss important issues like public safety and affordable housing, as well as gather feedback on the proposed budget and upcoming strategic initiatives.
Public safety is a major focus for 2025. Over the past several years, significant investments have been made in this area and that remains the intent for the upcoming year. The proposed budget includes the addition of two more police officers to create a Community Safety Unit, expansion of the Remote Guard Camera Program, a request for a new Fire Inspector and the development of a Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan to raise additional opportunities to support community safety and to improve the wellbeing of all residents.
Housing is also a key component of the proposed budget. The development of a Social Housing and Infrastructure Plan will bring together partners to meet the unique needs of Penticton. We are working to ensure that housing is available for all– from emergency shelter to market housing. We’ve made strides on key projects like the BC Builds opportunity and OCP Task Force Recommendations and will continue to work with other levels of government to meet the demand.
We cannot do it alone.
Our commitment to maintaining Penticton’s community amenities and services, from parks to roads to essential infrastructure, remains strong. This proposed budget includes important capital investments, including upgrades to roads, water, and sewer systems, ensuring the infrastructure that supports our community continues to meet both current and future needs.
Of course, these investments come with costs. The proposed budget includes a 3.06% increase for the final year of the deferral from 2022 that supported a significant investment in public safety. The remaining increase of 5.52% is comprised of inflationary costs of 2.9% to maintain service levels, and 2.62% for strategic initiatives to support safety and livability, bringing the total increase for 2025 to 8.63% (or $15 a month for the average residential taxpayer).
Which brings us back to the open house – we want your input.
This is your chance to tell us if the choices we are making are the right ones. Should we be focusing on other areas? Are there areas that you think should be curtailed or expanded?
Please take some time to review the proposed budget information on shapeyourcitypenticton.ca and then come with your questions and comments. The open house is October 29 and the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre from 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. and children are welcome. If you can’t make it, you can submit your comments on http://www.shapeyourcitypenticton.ca between October 15 and November 6.
Council works for you. This is an opportunity to help shape the future of our community and I hope to see you there.