Councillors in Gibsons didn’t wrap up their budget debates April 4 as hoped, but they made key decisions on the funding request from the Gibsons and District Chamber of Commerce and Sunshine Coast Tourism.
Councillors also heard at their Tuesday committee meeting that director of finance Ian Poole had built the draft budget around a 1.5 per cent tax increase, which would be in line with the rate of inflation.
In his overview of the Town’s books, Poole pointed out that overall revenue was likely to be up in 2017 with building permits expected to rise, and new properties coming onto the tax rolls.
Poole also noted that the loss of Vancouver Coastal Health as a tenant in the Town-owned building at 494 South Fletcher in June could hurt the bottom line to the tune of about $31,000 if new renters aren’t found to replace them.
Councillors endorsed recommendations to renew the Chamber’s contract for visitor information services, including funding for the Travel Ambassadors program, at $47,500, but they did not move forward with the request for $20,000 in one-time funding to help cover the costs of the Chamber’s move to a bigger space at Sunnycrest Mall, which would also include a new visitor centre.
“In my view, the Gibsons Chamber of Commerce is actually one of the more active organizations here that is actually providing some concrete results,” said Mayor Wayne Rowe. “I very much respect that, but I’m frankly having a lot of difficulty with this particular request.”
Council also voted to contribute $7,200 to Sunshine Coast Tourism (SCT), but Rowe said council wants to have a detailed discussion with both the Chamber and SCT about how spending on tourism will be handled in 2018 and beyond, when more money is expected to come in through an accommodation tax, which was implemented last August. “The council is feeling a very strong need to have a very specific meeting … as to how these services are going to be dealt with in the future given the significant potential change in the funding that will be available to tourism.”
Leading up to next Tuesday’s continuation of the budget meeting, Rowe said, councillors should be thinking about their willingness to take on debt for capital projects. Poole told councillors the town is currently carrying $6.8 million in long-term debt, which is just under half of what the Town is allowed to borrow. He also said with one loan set to be paid off, the Town could borrow about $65,000 without triggering a tax increase.
“I have an aversion to debt,” said Rowe. “I’d love to eventually leave my term saying the Town doesn’t owe anything. That would be very nice, but I know that’s not going to happen … This is about the lowest interest rates are likely ever to be, so there is an opportunity here.”
