Whitehorse city council may have to trigger yet another tax increase to pay for rising costs associated with the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

The additional costs total about $537,000 and were raised before council members at a noon meeting Wednesday.

Municipal taxes, according to city manager Dennis Shewfelt, are just one option council will consider in raising the required extra funds.

'(Taxes) are only one suggestion,' Shewfelt said in an interview today.

'There are a few options. The figure of $537,000 is just a guesstimate.'

Another option, according to Shewfelt, would be to dip into a city contingency fund.

The costs, he said, were expected to be incurred from additional employee overtime, running the Stan McCowan Arena and the tent arena scheduled to be erected in the former Motorways trucking yard along the waterfront.

He said, weather dependent, the city could also face additional snow-clearing costs as city-owned parking lots would receive increased priority during the Games.

In an interview this morning, Coun. Doug Graham said various city departments have come forward stating more funding is required for the Games.

'The various departments said there will be additional money we're going to need for the Canada Games in 2006 and 2007.'

Graham said he wasn't surprised by the additional costs.

'I've been consistent throughout. I wasn't for the Canada Games because I knew this was going to happen.'

Ray Goruick, the city's financial manager, said this morning that if council decided to collect the extra money through taxes, residents would be paying an additional 0.5 per cent in property taxes this year and another 2.5 per cent next year on top of the scheduled two per cent hike already approved by council.

In a previous interview, Goruick stated the city would be rolling back the city's mill rate by 5.5 per cent, the city's figure for the average rise in property assessments, before tacking on the extra two per cent.

If the city decides to go with the tax option, Goruick said, the city would not roll back the rates by the full 5.5 per cent.

'We'd not be able to decrease the rate as much as anticipated.

'It would be a marginal increase in the decrease,' he said.

Coun. Bev Buckway said it was always known there would be additional costs for the Games.

Buckway said while the decision was made by a previous council and additional costs 'was not a wonderful situation to come into,' she now just wants to move forward and make the Games a success.