Residents could be left waiting a month after the release of the city's 2009 capital budget to find out how much the city will spend on operating Whitehorse and what their property tax bills will look like.

Mayor Bev Buckway said in an interview Friday the city is planning to release its capital budget in December. That will be followed by the operations and maintenance budget in January. The purpose is to "break it down in digestible parts," said the mayor.

The change will also mean territorial property assessments can be factored into any property tax increases for 2009 before any boosts to property taxes are brought forward.

"We know the assessments are crucial," Buckway said.

Last year, the city decreased the original proposed tax increase after the Yukon government conducted assessments on properties which saw the value jump over previous assessments on the homes.

Municipal taxes for individual properties are calculated using the value of the site and mill rate, or the tax per dollar of the assessed value of a

property.

While the city has no control over assessment values, which jumped an average of 16 per cent last year, it can control the mill rate, city manager Dennis Shewfelt said this morning.

With the significant jump in property values last year, council instructed city staff to lower the proposed mill rate on the calculation so it would still get the revenue it was looking for on property taxes, but without the larger boost that would have come from the assessment increase on almost all properties.

Buckway noted the assessment rates last year came as a surprise to almost everyone. This will give the city a chance to consider the mill rate after the assessments are released, rather than before.

The territory only does property reassessments every two years. However, as Rob Fendrick, the city's director of administrative services, explained this morning, the city still won't know what the assessment value of new properties will be.

Waiting until January to release the operations budget will give the city an extra month to factor in accurate property values.

Last year, it was suggested property taxes will rise another four per cent each year for the next two years.

At the same time, the city also wants to have the capital budget passed by January so it, and local contractors, can plan for the coming building season.

It means the sooner the capital budget passes council, the sooner the city can to release tenders for various projects, Fendrick explained.

The five-year capital plan, which is released with each capital budget, suggests the city will likely spend $27 million on major projects in the coming year.

The mayor also hopes more residents and groups have the chance to be fully informed about the proposed budget when it looks for feedback on

the budget.

At the 2008 public hearing on the budget, 25 people attended, with 29 written submissions also coming to the city.

"That's not a lot of feedback," Buckway said, pointing to the city's size as comparison.

Having it come forward in two parts could allow residents to look over each portion more carefully, she said.

It's important for residents and groups to have a good understanding of what's proposed in budgets, the mayor noted.

After a focus group meeting last Thursday evening about the budget, Buckway said the city is also considering suggestions like meetings with community associations to go over budget details, providing residents with more information on how property taxes are calculated, better explanations of major budget items and providing a basic summary of the budget as well.

Six people turned out for the meeting designed to look at how the city can better communicate its budget to the public.

The meeting was held after a number of individuals and groups brought up concerns about how the budget is released, she said.

Despite the low turnout at last Thursday's meeting, Buckway said she was pleased that the six there represented a variety of different interests in the community being homeowners, businesses, community groups and the general public.

"The people that were there were totally engaging," she commented.

While it's not likely the city will host another focus group meeting before the budget is unveiled, Buckway said officials will start moving forward on some of the suggestions coming out of last week's session, such as meeting with community associations when the budget is released.

"That's certainly a possibility," she commented.

The city's 2008 budget came in at $50 million.