The first round of the 2011 Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) budget is done, and early indicators point to tax increases across the board for almost every area.
According to SCRD chief administrative officer John France, Area A is set for a 2.8 per cent increase in the SCRD portion of property taxes, Area B - 6.8 per cent, Area D - 3.1 per cent, Area E - 1.2 per cent and Area F - 1.1 per cent. In the municipal governments, the District of Sechelt is expected to have an increase of 3.2 per cent, and in the Town of Gibsons, an increase of 2.8 per cent. Only the Sechelt Indian Government District is projected to have a decrease of 0.7 per cent.
"I think that the board and the staff worked hard to try to hold the line, and so far we haven't been what I'd call successful, but I think people need to know we're trying to bring it down," said board chair Garry Nohr. "Just to keep it at that level is tough sledding, I can tell you that much."
The SCRD is now in its second year of using a process called "zero-based budgeting" where the board begins budget discussions looking only at baseline and core services and adds to that on a case-by-case basis, rather than start with all ideal services and projects built in and whittle down from there.
Nohr said that even the base budget is bigger than he expected it would be.
"We've had what I consider a huge amount of packages from each of the areas on things that needed to be done from the baseline budget. Some of them are mandatory because of changes in provincial legislation or requirements. We have no choice. We can't say no to those. They have to go in," he said.
New spending added in during round one includes upgrades and replacements of infrastructure at the Gibsons Pool, Sechelt Aquatic Centre and Sunshine Coast Arena, but even with those, Nohr said the board had little choice.
"It's either fix them now or shut the facility down because they break down. It's sort of a preventative amount of cash that we had to put out to get those in shape," he said.
Round two discussions are set to begin in mid-February. Nohr said the board's goal will be to sharpen pencils and try to keep taxes as low as possible as the board debates spending on the SCRD corporate energy and emissions plan, dock repairs, water treatment facilities in Pender Harbour and some seed money for the Solid Waste Management Plan, which is soon to come up for approval by the board.
"What we're having to do is really scrutinize in the second round to try to get some savings," he said.
But the early numbers don't tell the whole story. France and Nohr said more drastic this year are the changes in assessed values of properties by BC Assessment. Nohr said Area B's assessed values climbed the highest this year, pushing up its tax burden.
Nohr encourages anyone who is able to sit in on a budget meeting, which are all open to the public, to see just how the board's decisions affect property tax rates.
"I think if a person has a chance to see the process, they'll fully understand why the directors weren't able to get to the number they were probably hoping for," Nohr said.
