Some members of Sechelt council are hoping for bigger financial contributions from other local jurisdictions for the library and the police-based victim services program.
The discussion of library cost-sharing came up during discussion of two Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) motions presented to council for endorsement. One called for negotiation of a new five-year MOU on library funding and the other was the proposed breakdown of populations served to calculate funding.
Coun. Matt McLean said he thought using 33 per cent for Area A, Pender Harbour/Egmont, was too low and wanted to “send a message” to the SCRD.
“What I would like District of Sechelt council to say is that this is not fair. We can then bring it back to the SCRD and they can figure out what they can do to make it more fair,” he said before introducing a motion to the effect that 100 per cent of Area A is served, because the physical distance can “be overcome though digital technologies, off-site programming and other activities.”
Council voted in favour of the idea of basing the Area A contribution on 100 per cent of the population being served, but the motion is not binding on the SCRD, although it could be seen as direction to Sechelt’s directors at the board.
The issue of how the other local jurisdictions contribute to police-based victim services was prompted by a staff report suggesting Sechelt’s contribution to the program be managed through the police budget instead of the grant program.
The Community Services Society, which runs the victim services program, is also hoping for a significant increase for 2020 that would take Sechelt’s contribution from roughly $41,000 to $56,000.
Victim services manager Denise Woodley said in the past year they’ve seen a 200 per cent increase in demand in Sechelt and a doubling of demand in other parts of the Sunshine Coast. The request for additional funding is to cope with that increase.
According to the staff report to council, the province expects victim services to be cost-shared 50/50 with the province in “communities with a population of 5,000 or more and with a police-strength of four or more.”
Areas of B.C. with populations below 5,000 do not pay directly for policing services; instead the province contributes using a policing tax collected from property owners in rural areas or small municipalities.
The province contributed about $70,000 to victim services on the Sunshine Coast last year, while the SCRD and Gibsons offered grants-in-aid of $500 and $400 respectively, according to documents included in the staff report.
Woodley described trying to get the SCRD and Gibsons to offer bigger grants as “frustrating.”
“This is a regional service – why should everything be put on the District of Sechelt?” said McLean. “What we need is a new SCRD service for police-based victim services and fund it regionally… This is a regional issue, it’s a regional service, it should be funded by a regional district.”
Mayor Darnelda Siegers said she’d make sure there’s a “conversation” on that idea at the SCRD, backed by a council motion.
