Masset council gave first reading last week to a budget that will increase the overall amount of taxes collected by the village by about 4 percent.Administrator Trevor Jarvis said the average Masset taxpayer likely won't notice any difference at tax time because the province has increased the homeowner grant for rural and northern areas.(The same goes for taxpayers in the other municipalities, like Port Clements, where village plans to collect about 2 percent more than last year, after three years of zero increases.)Mr. Jarvis said council members decided to keep this year's tax rate (the amount that property owners pay per $1,000 of assessed value) the same as last year. Since assessments have gone up slightly in Masset, their decision had the effect of increasing the overall tax requisition by 4 percent, to $567,000 from last year's $545,000.The budget outlines spending that will keep the village operating pretty much as it has in other years, Mr. Jarvis said."The only significant change in there is the airport terminal is a capital project," he said.Masset has been working for years to build a new terminal building at its airport. The current terminal is two old trailers with some additions, and "it's definitely aging," Mr. Jarvis said.The village has assembled some funding for the project, with $200,000 committed from the Gwaii Trust and reserves set aside, he said. Now, it is waiting to hear if its application for $400,000 from the provincial "Towns for Tomorrow" program has been successful."If we get that piece of funding we should be going ahead," Mr. Jarvis said, with construction to start by the fall.The draft financial plan is available at the village of Masset office for members of the public to pick up and review. If anyone has comments, they can make them at the May 9 public council meeting, or submit them before that date, Mr. Jarvis said.Masset plans to give second and third reading to the financial plan at the May 9 meeting, and the final reading at some point after that and before the deadline of May 15.