The 2022 Sunshine Coast Regional District budget adopted Feb. 24 was $126,000 lighter than its earlier public iteration – but taxes are still going up.
SCRD staff presented directors with some last-minute adjustments to the 2022-2026 Financial Plan at that meeting.
Chief financial officer Tina Perreault outlined some changes since the Round 2 consultations, including:
- Approximately $29,000 reduced from the human resources department as some operational line items were no longer required.
- Taxation further reduced by $61,656 by decreasing the tax subsidy for the election budget and funding it from the operating reserve.
- The operating budget for regional recreation saw a reduction around $12,000 due to changes in programs, communications manager Aidan Buckley said in a March 1 email.
At the end of Round 2, the finance budget was reduced by $70,000 from support services and partial taxation. At a board meeting following Round 2, taxation for general government was decreased by $75,000 with that money instead coming from operating surplus.
Other recent changes came from additional costs for the Sunshine Coast Emergency Planning and user rate changes for some wastewater services.
In 2022, taxation revenue is calculated to be $26,262,456, according to the “budget book,” or the final version of the 2022-2026 Financial Plan. Operating expenses are expected to be $52,969,389, while capital expenses are calculated to be $41,977,804. The total budget approvals for 2022 is $8,400,186.
Projects continuing from 2021 total $31,606,019. These include two large-scale water infrastructure projects – phase 4 of the Church Road wellfield project and the final phase of universal water meter installations – which account for 36 per cent of capital expenditures expected in 2022.
“The majority of the capital projects approved in 2022 are for remediation or replacement of existing assets,” the financial plan document states. “Completion of these projects is not anticipated to have a material impact on the overall operating budget.”
The overall change in taxation across property classes shows a 7.42 per cent increase. By area, that per cent change is 13.92 for Area A, 12.01 for Area B, 6.11 per cent for Area D, Area E sees a 7.91 per cent change, and 2.05 for Area F. The Sechelt Indian Government District (SIGD) will see a 6.98 per cent increase, while the District of Sechelt goes up by 6.13, and the Town of Gibsons sees a 4.86 per cent increase.
The average change in taxation for the residential property tax is also broken down by area, but Area’s A calculation does not include Egmont & District fire protection. By area, the average change in the residential property taxation is increasing by 18.22 per cent for Area A, 21.14 for Area B (mainland), 8.41 per cent for Area D, 6.05 for Area E, 1.69 for Area F (mainland), the SCRD portion will be 14.87 for SIGD, 14.7 for Sechelt, and 8.39 for Gibsons.
The calculated residential tax rates show a decrease, but since these rates are estimated per $100,000 of assessed home value, they are still likely to be higher than last year because of the substantial increase of property value assessments on the Sunshine Coast this year. The revised 2022 assessment roll is expected to be released in March.
Sechelt director Alton Toth was the only director who voted in opposition to the budget’s three readings and adoption. He said he was not comfortable moving forward with adopting the budget at the Feb. 24 meeting, given the agenda amendments made that afternoon and the late release of the budget book, and not knowing how the District of Sechelt is affected.
While noting he is “generally supportive of the budget,” Toth said, “I’m just not ready to move forward with it today, and we’re not up against the deadline.”
Regional districts in B.C. must adopt their five-year financial plan before March 31.
