The estimated tax increase Sunshine Coast Regional District residents will have to pay this year is finally out – the day before the SCRD board is scheduled to adopt the new financial plan.
A press release issued Feb. 23 says the preliminary overall property tax increase is approximately 7.5 per cent. A total of 90 new projects and 147 carry forward projects came out of Round 2 deliberations in late January. The operating budget is anticipated to be $52.9 million, and the capital budget $41.7 million, SCRD’s communications manager Aidan Buckley told Coast Reporter.
Tax by area is estimated per $100,000 of assessed home value. While all of the regional district’s areas show a preliminary decrease compared to 2021’s rates, the press release notes “your tax bill will likely be more than it was in 2021” because of the substantial increase of property value assessments on the Sunshine Coast this year.
Area A’s preliminary rate for 2022 is decreasing by $33.28 per $100,000 compared to 2021, and is currently estimated to be $224.70 for 2022. For Area B, the rate is going down from $274.98 in 2021 to $245.12 in 2022. Area B islands will see a decrease of $20.72, bringing the 2022 rate to $83.09 per assessed $100,000. Area D’s preliminary rate is estimated to be $240.15, compared to $273.89 last year. Area E’s estimated rate is $232.91, $35.27 less than the year before. For Area F, the rate is expected to be $257.77, around $20.19 less than 2021. The Area F islands are likewise seeing a rate decrease to $106.28 ($24.26 less than last year).
The District of Sechelt’s SCRD tax portion is estimated to be $146.71, while the Sechelt Indian Government District’s is approximately $150.02, and the Town of Gibsons is $187.47.
Residents can calculate their proposed SCRD portion of their tax bills by dividing the assessed value of their home (found at www.bcassessment.ca) by $100,000, then multiplying that by their electoral area’s amount.
These numbers are still preliminary, and could change before the financial plan is finalized. The numbers only include the SCRD portion of residential tax bills.
The top driving projects for the budget and increases are related to water services, emergency services and solid waste, the SCRD’s press release states.
On Thursday, Feb. 24, directors will be adopting the financial plan, with all of the projects and initiatives incorporated.
More information can be found at www.scrd.ca/budget.
