Residents of Highlands are getting their first residential tax increase in 14 years.

Both residential and business owners will be paying 1.56 per cent more than before.

District administrator Chris Coates said the increase stems from both inflation and the need to conserve Highlands discretionary funds.

"We looked at what the fixed costs were then and what they are now," Coates said, explaining that six years ago the District had about $200,000 in discretionary funds. This year it has about $95,000.

Highlands has been able to operate for the past few years without increasing its budget by using revenue from other sources, such as fees for the construction of Hannington Creek Estates, a residential subdivision.

"It's easier to do it in small steps than to reach a critical point and make it big increase," Coates said.

It's been a long time since the past increase, which Coates said was too long ago to even know how much taxes went up because all the records from that time are kept off site.

For a home assessed at $665,000, the increase will add about $22.60 to their annual property taxes.

reporter@goldstreamgazette.com