The NDP governments new health payroll tax is going to hit Kamloops taxpayers much harder than first thought.
City of Kamloops Finance Director Kathy Humprhey says the city pays 90% of RCMP costs meaning residents will have to pay the health payroll tax for the 130 members of the force.
Humphrey estimates starting in 2021 the city will have to pay around an extra $700,000 annually up from the original $200,000 hit for city staff.
“Basically the way that we understand the budget at this point is that in 2019 there is probably going to be just over a million dollar impact to the city. The following year, once the MSP is completely gone, the net to the city will probably only be $100,000 to $200,000 but we will have to pay the employer health tax on our RCMP contract and so we haven’t worked out yet what that is but its a significant contract for the city.”
She says city staff will be working hard to determine exactly what the financial impact of the payroll tax will be for local taxpayers.