Sechelt council is poised to pass a "stay the line" budget that would see residential and commercial municipal tax rates rise by 2.32 per cent for 2010.
"It's a very conservative budget, because look at the economic situation that we're in," District of Sechelt chief financial officer Andrea deBucy said. "This was not the year to have major increases, and remember we didn't increase taxes last year."
The residential tax increase works out to $253.64 per $100,000 of assessed property value in 2010, compared to $247.88 per $100,000 of assessed property value in 2009.
The commercial tax increase works out to $519.96 per $100,000 of assessed property value in 2010, compared to $508.15 per $100,000 of assessed property value in 2009.
The business tax multiple remains at 2.05, which deBucy said is one of the lowest multiples in the province.
The only change in utility user fees, deBucy said, is a five per cent increase to the sewer user fee. This works out to $337 for 2010, up from $320 last year, which in turn was a 10 per cent increase over 2008.
"We're playing catch up on a lot of these fees," she said. "Some of our fees haven't been changed for 15 to 20 years."
This budget, deBucy said, cuts no services or programs. It adds one new municipal staff position - a manager of sustainability of special services, which was recently assumed by Emanuel Machado - plus pays for some WorkSafeBC-mandated requirements, including an emergency chlorine shut-off valve at the sewer plant and some training costs.
On the capital front, deBucy said Sechelt has budgeted just over $5.5 million for 2010 and has $20 million of capital projects planned for the next five years.
The bulk of the 2010 capital budget, or $3.4 million, will go towards sewer expenditures. The 2010 capital budget also sets aside funds for the maritime gateway project, including money for a day float in Trail Bay and some work in the adjoining park. Money is also being budgeted for some planning work for the proposed airport expansion. And beyond that, most of the remaining capital budget will go toward seawall and sidewalk maintenance, plus road upgrades and maintenance.
DeBucy said the goal with this budget was to have minimal impact on taxpayers, given the current economic times, and the number of Sechelt taxpayers who are on fixed incomes.
Council gave three readings to the budget bylaw at its council meeting Wed-nesday evening, May 5.
Coun. Fred Taylor voted against the budget. Taylor said he was concerned about staffing cost increases at the District and advocated for an environmental levy to cover future Sechelt sewer costs.
"The money to get those sewers is not going to come easy," he said. "We can borrow, certainly, but unless we start a nest egg and start people understanding that an environmental fee is necessary if we're going to preserve our beaches and ensure that those whole hillsides of septic tanks don't affect the beaches, I just think we're living in a fool's paradise and it's not sustainable."
Coun. Keith Thirkell spoke in favour of the budget, countering that he didn't see any drastic increases to staffing costs, and spoke against higher taxation. Mayor Darren Inkster also spoke in favour of keeping taxes low.
"My concern is affordability for the citizens of our community with the budget and the taxation that we foist upon them," Inkster said.
