The city has confirmed home owners will indeed see property taxes rise by 1.2 per cent, with water and sewer bills going up by four per cent this year.

In passing the final two readings to adopt the city’s $73-million 2017 operating budget Monday evening, council approved the tax, utility and user fee increases.

The city adopted its $46.6-million 2017 capital budget in December.

There was little talk among council members prior to Monday evening’s vote with the exception of Coun. Samson Hartland. He said he’s interested in seeing the city working more closely with the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce on future budgets.

During the public input process on the budget, the chamber suggested improvements to allow for greater feedback. It also praised the city for keeping the tax increase to 1.2 per cent and called for the increase to water and sewer bills to be brought down to about the same level.

The increase to the water and sewer rates mean that charges for those on the city system will go from $75.94 to $78.98 each month.

Even with the four per cent rate increase though, the budget proposes to put in another $477,000 from reserves to operate the water and sewer system.

Waste collection rates will remain at $11 per month.

In presenting the proposed budget last month, Mayor Dan Curtis pointed out that taxes continue to rise each year to keep pace as much as possible with inflation.

Provisional budgets drafted for 2018 and 2019 anticipate a 2.3 per cent increase each of those years.

“Taxes help pay for our roads, fire protection, recreation facilities, parks and trails, transit, planning engineering and other operations that help keep our city running,” he said.

The operating budget does include plans for additional transit hours for the Whistle Bend neighbourhood. There, transit is limited to peak hours – Monday to Friday from shortly after 8 a.m. to around 9:10 a.m. and then from 3 p.m. to just after 5 p.m.

“A growing community, along with the new long-term care facility, will create higher demand on our transit service,” the mayor said when the plans were first outlined.

“I am very excited about the future of Whistle Bend. Eventually, we will see shops, cafés, schools and more, as it is envisioned to grow to be twice the size of Riverdale.”

The city will spend $4.4 million on transit this year, with the expanded Whistle Bend service costing $167,937. Revenues from passes, tickets and advertising are estimated to come in at $1.3 million.

The city will continue to offer its Super Pass to transit and Canada Games Centre users.

The Super Pass essentially gives a 12.5 per cent savings on those who purchase both a monthly transit pass and Canada Games Centre membership.

Also funded through the operating budget is a new position with the fire department.

“A new fire prevention officer will benefit our community by providing more fire prevention education, and will help us ensure all our residents, including our most vulnerable, live in safe buildings that meet the fire codes.”

The adoption of the operating budget will mean planning work will begin for the city to host the 2020 Arctic Winter Games.

“The Games are a tremendous benefit to our businesses and residents,” Curtis said.

“Whitehorse last hosted the Games in 2012, and it is an excellent opportunity for our community to celebrate sport, social exchange and cultures with our northern neighbours.”

The budget will also provide the $6,355 in rental fees for the Takhini Arena as the Whitehorse Huskies senior men’s hockey team gets set to host the Coy Cup later this year.

When Curtis presented the budget last month, he pointed to the work of staff in keeping the city’s services running smoothly, and noted its role as an economic driver for the community.

“Within our community, we understand the importance of local purchasing, and we are proud that most of the city’s budget is spent locally and put right back into our local businesses and services,” he said.

“These dollars are invested in our people and in local goods and services that positively impact our community.

“A great example of the city’s support for local spending is Yukoner Appreciation Day. This year, we provided parking downtown for our residents so they were better able to support our local businesses. Community efforts such as this help strengthen our economic prosperity.”

Coun. Rob Fendrick attended last night’s meeting by conference call.