Council to vote on plan for new city hall

West Kelowna may get its first purpose-built city hall after all.

Plans for it were closely rejected in a referendum four years ago, but since then the city has been saving and says that no new taxes for residents will be needed build a city hall.

Council will vote on the plan to design and build its new home tonight.

“Despite the impacts of COVID-19, the city remains on strong financial ground, with its revenues, reserves and development cost charges, to advance long overdue infrastructure across the city,” stated a city news release. “In addition to water, roads and sidewalk projects underway, Council’s priority is also to restore and return the Mt. Boucherie Community Centre back to the public, especially with the greater need for expanded indoor community facility space.

The city said based on the alternative approval process and the close referendum results in 2016, it remained diligent, continuing to save funds annually while keeping its operations in a strong state with minimal annual tax increases.

“Each year, $700,000 is transferred into a reserve fund for City Hall to achieve the goal of borrowing less in future. Council listened to the community who were not in favor of new tax increases, and the financial model for the City Hall project reflects exactly that,” the release added.

A site has not been selected yet.