qathet Regional District’s finance committee is recommending increases to parcel tax and user fees for the Myrtle Pond water district.
At the October 4 finance committee meeting, directors considered a staff report with three options, outlining system costs.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said he wanted to make a motion recommending the second option, which, according to the staff report, would make a moderate increase to the parcel tax and user fees starting in 2024, working toward improving the average annual reserve contribution by 2028.
The option in the report stipulated an increased parcel tax of 10 per cent in 2024, which would generate an additional $4,846 in revenue. Parcel taxes would continue to increase by five per cent per year until the 25 per cent parcel tax requisition limit is reached.
User fees would also increase by 10 per cent in 2024, which would generate an additional $7.870. User fees would continue to increase by five per cent after 2024.
Gisborne said Electoral Area B and the discussion of water is always a very deep topic.
“It’s really eye-opening in our staff report,” said Gisborne. “We are currently putting $37,000 into the statutory reserve, and in order to cover fully the infrastructure replacement costs, we should be putting $140,000 into our statutory reserve every year.
“We are talking about 84 properties. That’s a big chunk of money. It’s a balancing act that we have to try and figure out. If we don’t adequately fund the system, and in the future we have to take out long-term borrowing, which is a commitment for 30 years, that’s putting the financial burden on the next generation.”
Gisborne said he finds the second option to be more reasonable. He said he would be in favour of a larger increase in the user fees portion, and then in future, looking at revising the user fees portion to make it more tiered, so that people using less water get a break.
“Our water systems are very expensive to operate,” said Gisborne. “If we can allow increased population density in our water systems, you can end up with more people paying into the system.”
Gisborne said he would be getting a lot of flak for a 10 per cent increase in the parcel tax and user fees but it is still well below what is required to keep the system sustainable in the long-term.
Electoral Area E director and finance committee chair Andrew Fall said the regional district is trying to bridge a gap between where it is at and where it needs to be.
“For the users, the hill has to be climbed,” said Fall. “Option two has a slope that is at least not climbing a ladder.”
The finance committee recommended that the regional board increase the Myrtle Pond water parcel tax and user fees in line with option two.
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