An average homeowner in Sechelt with a house connected to sewer will pay about $230 more in fees and taxes this year to fund the district’s portion of their tax bill. Homeowners with houses not connected to sewer will pay about $90 more.
Sechelt council was expected to give the final reading necessary to pass the municipality’s $14.7-million budget at a special council meeting May 10.
A tax rate increase of 6.95 per cent, a solid waste fee increase of $11 and a sewer parcel tax increase of $159 were needed to fund the year’s budget. The fee increases were offset slightly by a decrease of $19 in the sewer user fee.
The 6.95 per cent tax rate increase on an average home in Sechelt (defined as being worth around $430,000) results in an additional charge of about $79 for 2017.
Major expenditures planned through the new budget include $2 million for construction of a public works facility, over $3.5 million for sewer expansion and a $260,000 paving program based on the McElhanney report.
Expected to be passed along with the 2017 budget this week was a projected financial plan until 2021, which calls for tax increases every year to deal with a capital infrastructure deficit demands and amortization costs being faced by the district.
“This financial plan contemplates a minimum three per cent tax increase for the next five years. That’s the minimum. Just so you know,” Mayor Bruce Milne said during the May 3 regular council meeting, where council gave three readings to the budget and financial plan.
Coun. Darren Inkster said the increases made for a “difficult budget.”
“I would say it’s probably my hardest budget pill to swallow, followed in second and third place by zero budgets in times that we shouldn’t have done that.”
Coun. Noel Muller voiced his support for the budget and the path it would lead Sechelt down.
“I’m supporting this budget primarily because it gets us back to a net zero situation of estimated surplus/deficit,” Muller said.
“By the end of this particular financial plan we are, for the first time since I’ve been on council, we are in the positive.”
While Coun. Doug Wright applauded the work of staff on the budget, noting director of finance Doug Stewart prepared the budget while wearing a “number of hats” filling in for other staff members, he also criticized the scope.
“I guess I would be remiss if I didn’t say we have, historically, a capacity to do about $2 million worth of work in any given year. This capital budget is at about $8 million. Somehow it doesn’t appear to me to be very realistic,” Wright said.
“I’m going to support it despite that, but bear in mind, today is May 3 – the year end finishes in December. We have eight months to do $8 million worth of work with a capacity, historically, of being able to complete two. Don’t expect it to be done.”
The only councillor who noted she would not be voting in favour of the budget was Coun. Darnelda Siegers, saying she was unhappy with how the sewer parcel tax turned out.
She said she’d rather see the $894,945 that will be funded through the sewer parcel tax, come from the capital reserve fund. She made a motion to that effect but no one seconded it so the motion died.
She proceeded to vote against approving the budget. With the majority of council in favour, it passed through three readings on May 3 and was expected to receive fourth reading and final adoption on May 10.
See the budget in its entirety at www.sechelt.ca.
