Water and sewer charges in Gibsons are each expected to go up five per cent again this year as the Town continues with a long-term plan aimed at “a self-sustaining water [and sewer] fund with sufficient reserves to address short and long-term operational and capital requirements.”
The water and sewer operating and capital budgets were presented to council’s committee of the whole at a Jan. 22 meeting.
The increase, which would be applied to both the parcel taxes and user fees, includes two per cent for inflation.
Director of finance Lorraine Coughlin told the committee that every one per cent increase brings in about $17,500 in revenue for the water utility and $16,500 for the sewer utility.
She also outlined the budget impacts of projects such as starting to supply water to Zone 3 from the aquifer.
“A $90,000 decrease has been incorporated into the budget to reflect the Zone 3 Aquifer expansion project and reduced reliance that the Town will have on SCRD bulk water,” Coughlin said in her written report. “The reduction of these costs will provide the funds required to service the debt associated with the expansion project.”
Projects like the Zone 3 expansion, water main replacements and extensions and the upgrades to the Prowse Road sewer lift station will add significantly to the Town’s debt in 2020.
In response to questions from councillors, Coughlin said the Town is currently carrying about $7.6 million in debt, and the water and sewer projects for which borrowing has been approved will add about $4 million in new debt, Coughlin said.
Of the $12 million in debt the Town will be carrying, nearly half will be in loans for water and sewer system work.
As well as the big capital projects in the 2020 budget, the committee also spent some time on a much smaller one – a $7,000 line item for “Well 1 vending machine replacement.”
Since the Town first decided to charge a fee to fill water jugs at Well 1, at the intersection of Winn Road and Gower Point, the system has been plagued by glitches.
“It’s been very problematic and has probably not been running as often as it’s been running,” said director of infrastructure services Dave Newman.
Chief administrative officer Emanuel Machado added that staff at town hall have even been asked to fill jugs for people when the dispenser isn’t working properly.
Machado said as well as replacing the dispenser at Well 1, staff are looking into the possibility of smaller filling stations for personal water bottles at the Gibsons Public Market or the Visitor Information Centre, which would include educational material about the Gibsons aquifer.
Mayor Bill Beamish said given the number of residents who want to continue to have access to the untreated water from Well 1, which comes directly from the aquifer, he supports spending money to get the system working reliably.
“I certainly support it being there and I support there being a charge associated with it as well,” he said.
Coughlin also told the committee that part of the long-term financial plan for water and sewer calls for the Town to move away from reliance on gas tax funding for those utilities.
“Previously we used a lot of our gas tax money to support the water fund and by reducing our reliance on that and being able to build reserves we can now transfer the gas tax to be used in the general operating budget,” she said, noting that strategy would free up the money for items like roadwork.
The goal is to have no gas tax required for the water fund by 2021.
“It is a grant and at some point the province could say it’s going to stop and we didn’t want to be vulnerable relying on that for such an essential service as our water system,” Coughlin said.
A motion to approve the five per cent increases for water and sewer charges is expected to go to council in early February.
