Hanover Council gets a preview of the 2016 budget process at a special meeting tonight.
The report from Director of Corporate Services Christine Walker calls for a levy increase of almost $780,000. or just over 14%.
That would equal an extra $200 dollars on the average property assessed at $195,786.00.
About $40. of that total is due to a 2.4% increase in assessment.
She adds an over $300.000. increase in operational costs for the police department is restraining the operations of other departments.
The report says council in the past eliminated proposed road work to reduce the tax impact.
However Walker says council should not continue that practice as to avoid additional costs associated with maintenance or catastrophic failure.
Walker will also council tonight if they wish to set a maximum percentage increase, and if they want to reduce the overall levy by reducing or eliminating programs or services.
Walker says it continues to be a challenge to develop a responsible municipal budget.
