City's budget is only part of the over all taxation story

If you’re agonizing over news reports of a possible 5.9-per-cent municipal tax increase, that’s not a true picture of what your tax bill will end up at. That’s the residential portion of the tax bill, there are nine categories in total, each with it’s own rate. 

Those sectors are made up of Utilities, supportive housing, major industry, light industry, business, managed forest land, recreation/non-profits and farm land.  They all go into the city’s tax calculation with different rates for each.

The city’s portion is only one of the entities that make up you final tax bill.

The biggest one next to the city is the school board levy which has it’s own requisition, but collected by the city. Also standing in line with their hand out are the Regional District of Nanaimo, Regional District Parks, Regional District Sewer, Regional Hospital District, Regional Library, Municipal Finance Authority, B.C. Assessment Authority.

Each those entities to a large extend set their own tax requisitions which the city then collects. That’s your final tax bill, which the city has to finalize early in the new year. The direction taken by the school district and the Regional District before that final filing date can give you an indication where the final bill is headed.

And then there’s the assessment story, but that’s for another day.