Councillors in Gibsons are heading into the budget deliberations with an estimated surplus of $238,059 on the books, based on a two per cent property tax increase “to cover cost of living and contractual items.”
In a report to the Feb. 25 committee of the whole meeting, director of finance Lorraine Coughlin said new construction in the Town will mean an extra $16,696 in property tax revenue, and the two percent property tax increase will bring in approximately $65,155.
With other anticipated revenues, including an increase of nearly $11,000 in what the Town brings in from renting space in its buildings, Coughlin is estimating operating revenue of $6,953,435.
Coughlin told council the increase in rental revenue is mainly from a new lease with the Sunshine Coast Regional Economic Development Organization and the agreement with BC Housing, which has been renting space in a building on South Fletcher Road for the winter season homeless shelter.
Coughlin said the draft budget includes $6,715,376 in operating expenditures, an overall increase of $74,920 over 2019.
While costs in some areas have gone down, the planning department’s budget is expected to go up by about $168,908. Nearly $75,000 of that increase is related to funding for affordable housing initiatives. The department is also slated to hire a second planner.
The infrastructure services and public works budget is set to rise by about $146,000, which reflects both a decrease in management salaries and an increase in wages for unionized workers. The department is also planning to hire a capital projects coordinator.
The parks and cultural services department is also seeing an increase. The creation of a new parks foreman position, more staff training and higher costs for groundskeeping and tree and trail maintenance are all contributing to an extra $69,674 more in expenditures for 2020.
According to Coughlin’s report, the resulting surplus of $238,059 “can be used to finance the current year capital [and] projects plan and funding requests by external organizations.”
An upgrade to the Town’s computer systems is also in the budget, prompting Coun. David Croal to ask whether this was an opportunity to work with the Sunshine Coast Regional District or Sechelt on a joint purchase – an idea that’s been floated for various routine procurements over the years.
“Purchasing hasn’t always lined up [with the other governments], but it’s not that we haven’t tried. It’s been a bit of a challenge,” responded chief administrative officer Emanuel Machado.
During her presentation, Coughlin also remarked that “climate change impacts continue to have a strong influence on the Town budget” and Machado finished the meeting with a review of some of the initiatives that fall under the category of “building resiliency” that could be incorporated into this and future budgets.
Machado said it would help the Town be “more strategic with how we invest our pennies and where to best spend staff’s time.”
The committee didn’t make any specific budget decisions, but did vote in favour of sending the bylaw to increase sewer and water charges by five per cent forward to council.
Coughlin said a typical single-family homeowner would pay an additional $30 this year for sewer, an extra $18 in parcel tax and $12 more in user fees.
The water rate increase will also result in an estimated $30 increase on a single-family home, with $11 in additional parcel tax and around $19 in user fees for a house using about 100 cubic metres of water every six months.
The budget discussions will continue March 10.
