For 14 consecutive years and running, Highlands residents wonB次元官网网址檛 see a municipal tax hike.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e worked hard to achieve this and so have previous councils,B次元官网网址� said Highlands Mayor Jane Mendum.

For the council to operate without increasing the municipal taxes, Mendum said council asks District staff to produce a budget with a zero per cent increase, then council sticks to it.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 about balancing and choices,B次元官网网址� Mendum said. B次元官网网址淚t would be easy to not have a zero per cent increase.B次元官网网址�

This year the District's main capital expenses include improving fire department equipment and road repairs. The District has budgeted $250,000 for road upgrades and $52,000 to replace a chassis on a mini pumper.

B次元官网网址淭he major road repair will be south Millstream (Road), but we will put capital into our roads throughout Highlands,B次元官网网址� Mendum said.

Residential growth in the district also adds to the tax base, Mendum said.

B次元官网网址淭ax revenue increases each year because there is new construction and that is factored into the tax rate formula,B次元官网网址� said district administrator Chris Coates.

Property values in Highlands increased this year by about 6.1 per cent, so the district reduced the municipal portion of the tax bill by about the same amount.

An average $680,000 home will pay about $1,400 for the municipal portion of its bill. Ever decreasing, the 2011 municipal tax rate is less than half than what residents were paying in 1997.

reporter@goldstreamgazette.com