The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) has adopted its budget for 2012, and expects rural residents will see about a one per cent tax increase when rate calculations are completed in early April.

This year’s budget is $29.7 million, which represents an overall decrease of 5.8 per cent from last year.

That figure, however, includes a number of items that are specific to certain service areas, whose costs won’t be shared by the region as a whole.

When those items are set aside, the 2012 operating budget for services shared by most municipalities and electoral areas in the region, represents a 5.4 per cent increase from 2011.

“We are committed to maintain or improve our service levels and programs while keeping any tax increases to a minimum. The board and staff have worked hard to achieve that balance this year and I’m pleased with the budget we’ve adopted,” RDEK board chair Rob Gay said in a release.

Highlights in the 2012 budget include boiler room upgrades at the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena, and a $130,000 grant to the Cranbrook Homeless Shelter.