Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors filtered through a long list of project proposals Oct. 24 as the board works on a more aggressive timeline to adopt the 2020 budget by the end of February – about a month earlier than usual.
The list of proposed projects is a long one.
Projects from the 2019 budget that are expected to carry into 2020 topped out at nearly 70. That’s on top of the dozens of new projects under consideration, with an expected cost of more than $16.3 million.
A preliminary overall tax increase of 3.17 per cent is expected, though that will almost certainly change as items are finalized in the coming months.
In remarks presenting the initial budget, chief financial officer Tina Perreault advised directors that they should also be prepared to make policy decisions because of expected increases to user fees, such as for waste, and the large number of expensive water projects.
“A lot of these projects are being funded from reserves, and if you do all of those within those funding envelopes, you’re going to pretty much fully deplete the reserves on water,” she said.
Among those projects is $7 million to finish water meter installations in Sechelt and the Sechelt Indian Government District.
Other water projects include $750,000 for the replacement of a water main along Reed Road – necessary whether the Granthams well field goes ahead or not – as well as funds for a bulked-up water meter program.
More budgetary considerations are expected soon for proposed reservoirs.
Several staffing proposals were also included, such as three positions to deal with infrastructure, including a “strategic infrastructure initiatives” manager who would oversee policy and strategy on the water file as well as solid waste and transit.
Sechelt director Darnelda Siegers acknowledged “it is costly” to hire the extra staff, but supported the idea, telling directors “our current staff are at a level where they are pretty much tapped out with the day-to-day and short-term projects on our list.”
CAO Mark Brown pointed to the high number of carry forward items as “indicative of the shortfall in person hours to actually accomplish what we’re doing already.”
Another staffing proposal was for a communications manager role, which Siegers said was needed “to be proactive” with upcoming issues like water and other “high-cost items” that require the support of the community. About $120,650 has been budgeted for the role.
There were also increases related to firefighting, many of which stem from the Fire Services Report presented earlier this year. Among the larger items was $500,000 for a pumper for the Roberts Creek fire department and the replacement of its 19-year-old fire engine used in most emergencies, which would cost $350,000. A base budget increase of more than $100,000 has been proposed for the Gibsons fire department, in addition to the replacement of its fire engine.
Directors did manage to drop one project proposal from the list.
Staff recommended cancelling a $25,000 water efficiency project for the Sunshine Coast arena that was approved in 2019. That’s because staff already installed a “closed-loop cooling system” and made other changes that have dramatically reduced water use. They do plan to look at water efficiency opportunities for sports fields.
One sports-related item that did receive pushback was the $1.2 million to be spent on reconstructing the Shirley Macey sports field – an issue recently brought to the attention of directors by members of the public. Area E director Donna McMahon said rather than spending on Shirley Macey, they should focus on Brothers Field in Gibsons, since it’s more central. Ultimately the item made it through.
Two more pre-budget meetings are planned for December, followed by the start of the formal budget process at the beginning of February.
