Unnecessary Tax Hike

Of course I must respect the will of Council majority. But that doesn't mean that I have to personally agree with decisions made. And when I don't, I am pleased to explain my reasons. Such is the case with our recently-ratified tax hike set to be 7.2%. I had hoped for a lower rate considering the state of the economy, but recognize that inflation has affected the City as well as individuals. Much of our tax hike to for needed items related to public safety, such as additional firefighters, community safety officers, etc. I support those things. However, the fact is that everything in our budget could have been accommodated with a staff-proposed tax hike of 6.4%. I would have supported that. Instead, Council chose to arbitrarily bump the hike to 7.2%. The reason given was that this would help lower taxes next year. I find the justification nebulous as best, as much can change between now and next year. We need to keep taxes as low as possible whenever possible. To make taxes higher than we needed to was not something I could accept - so I voted against passing this budget.