Gibsons council members have approved staff recommendations to utility service rates, featuring a nine per cent annual increase to waste rates and a 10 per cent annual increase to water and sewer services.
During its March 4 committee of the whole, council members debated the need for immediate rate hikes versus waiting for the updated water master plan.
Waste
First up was waste, where a nine per cent increase in 2025 is proposed to cover $68,000 in previously unbudgeted costs, with an additional three per cent annual increase from 2026-2029.
Staff identified that this $68,000 in waste service costs is currently paid through general municipal taxes instead of through waste fees and charges.
The cost share for SCRD waste services charged to Gibsons properties is $670,000.
The staff report explains garbage costs are up 17 per cent and organics costs are up seven per cent in 2025, which are “primarily explained” by the $68,000 change in cost allocations.
The report notes a recent audit found Gibsons and the rest of the Sunshine Coast are sending trucks to the landfill with up to 50 per cent of the tipped materials being recycled or organic materials.
A $6,000 (10 per cent of the annual tipping fees paid to the SCRD) budget for educational programs to reduce landfill waste was suggested. This cost would not affect Gibsons’ overall rate change.
Council members also discussed the feasibility of bylaw enforcement for tipped materials or other ways to encourage residents to recycle, which will be discussed at a future date.
Water
For water, a 10 per cent annual increase for three years is recommended to fund $60 million in asset replacements over 60 years. The staff report stated, “The current 5 per cent overall annual increases in water revenues are not enough to cover operating costs and to fund water infrastructure sustaining capital expenditures in the near term.”
In the meeting, William Wallace, Gibsons director of finance, explained water is budgeted and paid for on a “full cost recovery basis,” where the town must recover the operating and capital costs over the full life cycle.
He explained there were significant amounts of money added to the utility budget for water and sewer in the past because there were shortages of key operator staff that had to be contracted out. “But the staffing has settled down and all the qualified people the town needs are on staff,” Wallace said.
Asset replacement and long-term projects include: one water main project every five years at a projected average cost of $2.5 million each.
Speaking to the possibility of a lower rate increase over a longer period, Wallace said, “The current situation needs an immediate, much higher injection of cash, but just not forever, and that's where the 10 per cent comes from.”
Listed operations projects for water are the aquifer protection regulation, which will see further work this year and the water master plan update, which will begin in 2026.
The council debated the need for updated water master plans and the impact of inflation on infrastructure costs.
Mayor Silas White said this 10 per cent increase did not surprise him, recalling that last year this same recommendation was “broadcast by data,” showing a steep increase in inflation.
Sewer
Staff explained the financial challenges of the town's sewer services, highlighting a need for a 10 per cent annual revenue increase over five years to address a $6 million outfall replacement project and other infrastructure needs.
Again, Wallace pointed out that the current 5 per cent annual increase in sewer revenues is not enough to cover operating expenses and fund sewer infrastructure sustaining expenditures. The staff report noted the current rate also fell short of the $440,000 annual contribution to the capital reserve fund.
Wallace said the town's sewer debt is “moderate,” with a $365,000 debt service burden starting in 2026.
“At the end of the day, the message is, you need more revenues going in there to meet the needs of this utility,” Wallace said.
The committee moved to recommend all three rates to council.
Updated fees and charges bylaws will be presented to the council for all reading at its March 18 regular meeting and staff propose holding a special Council meeting alongside the Committee of the Whole meeting already scheduled on March 25.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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