Sechelt councillors are getting into the nitty-gritty of the 2018 budget as they try to hold the tax increase down while maintaining the same service levels.
Council’s finance, culture and economic development committee debated several items in the general operating budget at its March 7 meeting.
Major changes from 2017 include $156,000 extra in salaries and benefits because of union contracts and inflation. Two new hires are also being requested by staff – a full-time equipment operator and a full-time arborist – for a total cost of around $165,000. The district is budgeting $61,852 for the RCMP contract and $34,500 to run the upcoming municipal election.
The committee also dealt with some additional budget requests. They decided to put off discussion of extra funding for the Sechelt Public Library until the renegotiation of the memorandum of understanding with the Sunshine Coast Regional District and Sechelt Indian Government District.
The Sechelt Downtown Business Association (SDBA) will get $8,000 for the downtown WiFi project, although 2017 was supposed to be the last year for the funding. District staff recommended the extra year because the company the SDBA had been working with has gone out of business.
“It’s not just the businesses downtown that this supports,” said Coun. Darnelda Siegers. “It’s our teenagers, our students, who have cellphones but not necessarily WiFi [access] and the vulnerable people in our community that need to have access to WiFi.” The Seniors Planning Table was approved for a $20,000 one-time grant to help the organization continue its work.
The proposed operating budget also includes $150,000 a year for the next three years to create an operating surplus to pay down $450,000 in accumulated deficit from previous years, which had been covered out of reserves. Director of finance Doug Stewart said that would account for about 1.86 per cent of the overall tax increase.
The finance committee was scheduled to continue budget discussions on March 14 with a look at the capital budget and the grant program, as well as review a detailed report on equity and reserve balances.
Some capital projects have already been approved, so tenders could be issued in time for work to start as soon as possible. They include a $2.5-million upgrade to Trail Avenue, between Teredo Street and Anchor Road, $275,000 for sewer and storm drain work along Trail, and $10,000 for work on the Nestman Beach Access which has already been completed.
The community investment program committee (CIPC) is recommending council approve grants of $50,523. The district received more than $73,000 in grant requests for 2018.
The biggest single grant being recommended is $7,873 for the Marine Rescue Society, which funds the RCM SAR units. The CIPC is also recommending $7,500 for the Sechelt Public Library Association, and $5,000 for the Arrowhead Clubhouse Society.
Stewart is estimating an overall tax increase in the 7.58 per cent range, with three per cent of that earmarked for “capital renewal” after the changes made at the March 7 meeting.
Coun. Doug Wright, however, said more trimming is needed. “I will not support more than a three per cent increase plus the three per cent that is going into infrastructure, and I want to make that very clear.”
Mayor Bruce Milne said that early in the process they chose a “service level approach” to setting taxes and, given the service levels council indicated it wanted to maintain, there may not be much room for further cuts.
