The town of Victoria in Conception Bay North is in the enviable position of reducing mil rates for the coming year.

The municipal budget was passed last night with no increases in fees, and a drop in the mil rate from 6.5 to 5.5.

Mayor Barry Dooley says it’s largely because residents are paying their taxes on time. He admits, things weren’t always as good as they are now.

He says a few years back, the town wasn’t as fortunate and had to take out loans to keep things going. Those loans have since been paid off.

Dooley says that, along with the help of infrastructure funding through the provincial and federal governments, the town is now 90 per cent serviced, with new infrastructure, new equipment and a new depot. On VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly, he credited the taxpayers for making the tax savings possible.

“That’s all due to the residents keeping their taxes paid on time,” says Dooley, so they’re passing the savings on to residents.