Cost for an average home in qathet Regional District to fund Powell River Regional Hospital District for 2024 is forecast to be around $100.
At the Powell River Regional Hospital District committee of the whole meeting on December 6, manager of financial services Linda Greenan led directors through the first draft of the hospital district’s budget, outlining revenues and expenditures.
Using the 2023 average home assessed value of $607,465.81, the taxation cost per average home in qathet Regional District is $100.33, and the cost per average home in Tla’amin Nation is $59.85 in the first draft of the hospital district budget.
Greenan outlined Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) cost share requests for capital expenditures, with $2.8 million having been approved in 2021 and $791,756 approved in 2022. She said what she would be recommending, because the hospital district has reserves, is that the district not borrow any more money for current cost share requests from VCH.
Greenan then reported on Willingdon Creek Village, which provides $1,192,776 in revenue annually. The debt payments on the facility amount to $1,832,477 until 2034, with 4.52 per cent interest until 2028. The hospital district is providing $240,000 per year to the maintenance reserve for maintenance to the building envelope.
For the hospital district’s reserve, there is a balance of about $5.2 million.
Residential tax rates are projected to be $16.52 per $100,000 of assessed value in the regional district and $8.91 per $100,000 in Tla’amin Nation.
Greenan said this hospital district is quite low using comparative tax rates to other regional hospital districts.
Greenan recommended setting a tax rate that provides significant contributions to reserves.
City of Powell River director and hospital board chair George Doubt said he agreed with setting a rate in future for the reserves.
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick said looking at the cost share requests from VCH, when she adds it up, the interest paid on the short- and long-term debt is $798,000 on a debt that was initiated in 2020, going forward to 2028.
“I’m really concerned about that,” said McCormick.
Greenan said for the cost share debt in 2023, she is proposing that it be funded from reserves.
McCormick said that was a good solution.
“We have to be very conscious about what we burden taxpayers with,” said McCormick.
The committee carried a motion to recommend to the hospital board that the board accept as draft one, and as guiding information, the proposed 2024 to 2028 financial plan for the Powell River Regional Hospital District. They also voted to recommend to the board that the board direct staff to fund the balance of the VCH cost share requests that have not been converted to long-term debt from reserves.
Draft two of the budget is projected for late January 2024, according to Greenan.
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