Courtenay council gave final approval to this year's budget and property tax rates Monday.Rates were calculated using a commercial tax rate multiplier of 2.85 — down from 2.9 last year.The residential tax rate is 3.3 for every $1,000 of taxable value, and the business tax rate is 9.4 for every $1,000, according to the bylaw.Water and sewer user rates have also gone up by two per cent overall this year, but a shift the structure of water rates to increase unmetered water rates and decrease metered water rates has continued in an effort to make the rates more fair for metered customers.Tax notices will be mailed out to Courtenay property owners soon and taxes are due at the beginning of July.