In Round 2 of Sechelt budget deliberations, a 8.48 per cent tax was among the options proposed by staff.
Sechelt council members were presented with additional 2024 provisional budget information, including the hiring of staff and an updated capital project list in their committee of the whole on Jan. 10.
David Douglas, director of financial services, explained that the 8.48 option (down from 9.17 per cent floated in Round 1 deliberations) is facilitated by pushing the hiring of new district staff later into the year. This option would see a 5.48 per cent increase for operations and a three per cent increase for capital projects.
The 8.48 per cent increase would amount to a $169.60 additional charge to the average home.
Into the operations details
Coun. Brenda Rowe questioned the $10,000 operating cost for small paving works, saying that it seemed excessively small. Douglas answered that this fund is dedicated to potholes and smaller pipe work. This year, the district only spent $17,000 of a $50,000 budget, he said.
Coun. Dianne McLauchlan asked for an explanation of how the amount of work and projects that are taken on by the capital budget relate to operating costs. Sechelt employs a number of staff who are hired to do capital works, and are budgeted in the operating budget, Douglas clarified. He added that they are not asking for any additional staff, and the amount of capital work taken on does not influence the number of staff hired.
One of the items listed is the hiring of a new parks maintenance position. Lindsay Roberts, director of corporate and community services, explained that the district has received pushback from the public in relation to park maintenance and service. Coun. Brenda Rowe asked what percentage of parks maintenance work is dedicated to community safety and issues relating to Sechelt's growing unhoused population. Roberts did not have an exact percentage but included that the issue has drastically increased in the last three years, citing that things like counting and collecting used hypodermic needles didn't used to be standard park staff duties.
Mayor John Henderson noted the $5,000 reduction to council contingency and staff clarified that left $15,000 in that fund.
Council unanimously voted to accept the proposed changes to the 2024 Provisional Budget - Additional Operating Requests and add them to the financial plan.
Reserves
Henderson spoke to Sechelt’s reserves, calling it their “rainy day fund”, used for a wide array of funding such as asset replacement.
He asked for clarification on the Public Safety Reserve, which contains $220,000.
Douglas explained that the only money in that reserve is any savings from the District's RCMP contract, which has accumulated over the years.
The Public Safety Reserve is used on RCMP-related costs, it has been used to fund the hiring of an additional officer in past years, and will fund the replacement of the courthouse roof.
The motions passed in this meeting – including considerations of sewage and septage rates and the capital budget – will allow Douglas to proceed with preparing a five-year financial plan for Sechelt.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
