The mayor of Kamloops is ready to take the final proposed property tax increase figure to a vote.

After combing through the supplemental budget, the proposed property tax increase is 2.96 per cent.

Ken Christian says Council takes the increase seriously.

“If you compare it with other communities of like size I think it is pretty good,” he said. “I think it is pretty transparent in the way we have reached it.”

“There are obviously people in Kamloops, as in every other city, who cannot afford their homes anymore. That concerns myself and the rest of council so we try to do what we can to keep the numbers as low as possible.”

He adds people have to understand the city is not spending money on frivolous items.

“The reality is that we still have to pay police and we still have to operate fire halls,” Christian added. “We want to run our water systems and we need sanitary sewer systems.”

“These are things that aren’t going to go away and that’s the reality of running a city.”

Christian says he would be very surprised if council voted against the increase at the 11th hour, but also acknowledged that anything can happen.

Council is expected to officially set the tax rate on April 16.