Councillors in Sechelt got back to work on the 2020 budget with committee meetings April 8 and 14 and a significantly trimmed list of proposed new spending in anticipation of the effect the COVID pandemic could have on taxpayers.
Director of finance David Douglas presented two options for council to consider – a 3.5 and a 4.5 per cent tax increase to cover operational expenses, with no increase for capital reserves – but by the end of the April 14 meeting the proposed tax increase was sitting at 3.25 per cent.
Hitting that target will require the district to draw on reserves and surpluses and borrow about $245,000 for equipment purchases.
Douglas also told councillors that a significant increase will be needed in sewer fees and septage receiving fees, the charge paid to dump material pumped from septic tanks from homes not connected to sewer systems.
The septage fees are set to increase from the current $50.60 per cubic metre to $112.18 per cubic metre.
The proposed increase to sewer fees now stands at an estimated $125 to $130 after the committee recommended removing about $113,000 in spending from the sewer operations budget.
Sewer parcel taxes will stay at $274.
During discussions of the sewer fund, Mayor Darnelda Siegers argued to have the reclaimed water distribution project, estimated at $1.5 million to be covered mainly through grants, moved up to be on the spending list for 2021, instead of 2023.
“We keep pushing it out further and further,” Siegers said. “We need to have it front and centre so that we actually take advantage of the [grant] opportunities that come forward for us... Water is an issue on the Sunshine Coast. We have community members who are watching this and they want to see the reclaimed water being used – they don’t like it going out into the ocean.”
Coun. Tom Lamb, who sat on the council that approved the Water Resource Centre (WRC) project with Siegers and now chairs the district’s Water Resources Select Committee, said he’s “very, very frustrated” that fees and parcel taxes haven’t covered the WRC’s expenses.
“I was involved with the conception of this water resource centre and all the budgets that we did and everything we worked out [showed] the parcel tax would have paid the debt and the user fees would have paid for the repairs and that to the plant,” Lamb said. “Is it worthwhile having a forensic look at this? I’d love to know where the money went or how come the costs are so high to run this thing.”
Siegers acknowledged the sewer fee increases might not sit well with taxpayers, but said the work is necessary.
Proposals eliminated from the overall operating budget included a $25,000 community satisfaction survey, $15,000 for a public art reserve, and $45,400 earmarked for travel and training.
Councillors also voted to delay hiring for vacant and proposed new positions.
There was also debate about whether to move ahead with improvements to the district’s website, a project that called for $30,000 from capital reserves in 2020.
Coun. Eric Scott argued that even though it won’t change the tax increase, delaying the start of the website project by one year would keep that money available for unanticipated needs.
Others, including Coun. Brenda Rowe, said changes local governments have had to make because of measures against the spread of COVID-19 mean the district will have to shift to more online services and do it quickly.
“We have no idea how badly we’re going to need an updated website, three or four months from now,” Rowe said. “I don’t think we know what the new world actually looks like, but I think that IT is going to be a big ol’ part of that, so I’d like to be ahead of that curve. I think it’s money smartly spent.”
In the end council voted 5-2 to have the website project delayed until 2021 with Rowe and Siegers opposed.
Douglas estimated that with a 3.5 per cent increase, the municipal portion of the taxes on a typical residential property, valued at $679,577, would increase by $52. He had not prepared an estimate for the impact of a 3.25 per cent increase.
The district is now working out the details on public information and feedback sessions, likely using an online format, before the financial plan bylaws go to council for first reading.
