Budget estimates coming out of Round 2 discussions were released by the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) a week before expected adoption.
The 2021 budget includes 213 projects, 117 of which are new and 96 carried over from the previous year. Following Round 1 budget deliberations, there were a proposed 226 projects, but only 13 didn’t make the cut after Round 2.
A March 18 release from the SCRD lists more than 30 projects as mandatory. Eight projects are mandatory because facility services such as the Sechelt Landfill generator, and wastewater facilities and services at the Dogwood reservoir could fail in the near future. Another eight projects need to be completed in 2021 to address safety concerns, including the fire sprinkler system at the Sechelt Aquatic Centre. Fifteen projects are required to bring facilities and assets into provincial and federal regulatory compliance.
“We have heard concerns about tax increases but also that residents do not want any reduction to current service delivery,” SCRD board chair Lori Pratt said in the release. “Whether it’s investments in our volunteer fire departments or investment in key infrastructure such as the Chapman Creek Water Treatment Plant, this budget will allow us the opportunity to build for the future of our region.”
The SCRD will also be adding 12.65 full-time equivalent positions, including 3.96 positions from 2020, in order to work on these projects. That’s 3.65 more positions than the nine recommended by staff following Round 1.
In 2020, the SCRD received $521,000 in COVID-19 restart funds for local governments. At the Round 2 budget deliberations, the directors moved to keep at least $50,000 of the funds unallocated in case of arising future needs related to the pandemic. The funds need to be allocated in two years, staff told the board at the March 4 budget meeting.
This year’s operating budget is estimated at $49.7 million and the capital budget is estimated at $34.64 million, SCRD communications manager Aidan Buckley told Coast Reporter via email.
The agenda for the March 25 corporate and administrative services committee meeting includes the latest estimates for the proposed residential tax increases.
Based on $100,000 of assessment, residential taxes will be increasing by 24.3 per cent in Area A (Pender Harbour-Egmont), 12.3 per cent in Area B (Halfmoon Bay), 8.8 per cent in Area D (Roberts Creek), 9.7 per cent in Area E (Elphinstone) and 8.8 per cent in Area F (West Howe Sound).
The BC Assessment is anticipated to come out in April.
While last year’s budget originally included a substantial tax increase, it was ultimately curtailed as a result of the pandemic.
Initially, the SCRD’s 2020 budget was approved at $73 million, with the overall average property tax going up 12.9 per cent. But just weeks after its adoption, the increase was cut by nearly two thirds, coming in at an average 4.7 per cent.
The 2021 budget was expected to be adopted by the SCRD at a March 25 board meeting, after Coast Reporter’s print deadline.
SCRD taxes cover only a portion of the Sunshine Coast’s municipal tax bills.
