Councillors in Sechelt have given unanimous approval to a 2019 budget that calls for an 8.45 per cent tax increase – three per cent for capital reserves and 5.45 per cent for operations.
Director of finance Doug Stewart has estimated the increase would add about $122 to the municipal portion of the tax bill for an average single-family home.
“It’s a good budget, but not a great budget,” said Coun. Matt McLean. “There’s still more that we can do to make this even better serving the people of Sechelt. The good things in it were building critical infrastructure like Trail Avenue and providing funding to create a subdivision bylaw and review our OCP. These are things that will help us build our community for the long-term future.”
McLean said he found the budget heavy on spending for new capital projects, and said council will have to keep an eye on ensuring there’s also funding to maintain existing infrastructure.
Mayor Darnelda Siegers made a move to see if councillors had an appetite to move up the schedule for a future capital project included in the five-year plan – the $1.4-million initiative to begin distribution of reclaimed water from the Water Resource Centre. The project is expected to be funded through “grants and contributions” in 2022 and 2023. At this point, no grants have been secured.
“Given the water situation that we have, I’m concerned that this is a long way out and it would be nice to start doing some of this work earlier,” she said, but ultimately did not introduce an amendment.
Major expenses on the operating side include a boost in funding to the Sechelt Public Library, some additional staffing at the district offices and money to cover salary increases at the RCMP and for existing district staff covered by collective agreements.
Despite having said at previous meetings that he was “not overly happy” with the 8.45 per cent increase, and calling for council and staff to hold the line at three per cent in the coming year, Coun. Tom Lamb voted in favour along with the rest of council.
