With the Village of Pemberton's (VOP) budget process well underway, council has instructed staff to increase the municipal tax rate by 5.75 per cent to cover two one-time costs.
Despite the increase, the average Pemberton resident isn't likely to see a change in how much municipal taxes they pay, explained VOP Mayor Mike Richman.
"I feel like the average resident is going to come out OK on this, because their actual dollar figure will go down on their tax bill—for the most part," said Richman, noting that there will be some variability depending on property assessments.
Some businesses will notice a slight tax increase, though, said Richman.
"It's always a difficult balance to make sure no one group is taking too much of the load," he said. "We want to keep it reasonable for our businesses and our residents."
The Village's tax base continued its growth in 2018: BC Assessment increased the valuation of properties and a significant amount of new construction came online.
Property assessments have increased by 28.03 per cent, due mostly to an increase in market value (20.11 per cent) with the remaining increase (7.92 per cent) due to new construction.
This year, there is no tax increases for operations, capital projects, and general revenues, explained Richman.
The additional revenue is going towards paying additional costs associated with the introduction of the Employer Health Tax (EHT) as well as a new "contingent liability" of $40,000 (money to be set aside in case of unforeseen future expenditures).
As is the case with other municipalities, the VOP is required to pay both MSP premiums and EHT for staff and former staff in 2019; this will cost the VOP $47,785 for the year.
"A lot of communities have had to collect more revenues to manage it," said Richman, noting that the City of Vancouver raised its property tax by five per cent to account for the introduction of the EHT.
The Village is also continuing to add money to its reserves for important infrastructure projects. "We have steadily been growing reserves that quite frankly didn't exist a number of years ago," said Richman.
"If there was a major failure at some point with our infrastructure, you need to have the capacity to deal with it.
"It's a way of planning ahead. It's like putting away a few dollars for your house, so if you do have to replace something, you are ready to go, and you don't have to go get another mortgage to pay for your roof."
The VOP will have a busy 2019, with its most significant project coming in the form of its long-awaited, downtown-enhancement project.
The project, slated to begin this month, will involve rehabilitating downtown roads, replacing key underground infrastructure, creating a downtown storm-water system, and making the Village more pedestrian-friendly by adding more street lighting and sidewalks.
While the VOP has funding for the lion's share of the project through a $5.3-million-federal government grant, it will contribute $571,200 from its reserve funds.
It will also be borrowing an additional $980,000 to pave the parking lot at the Downtown Community Barn and for project contingency.
The VOP is also awaiting word from the province on a funding proposal for a project that could transform its recreational lands on Pemberton Farm Road East.
As reported in Pique ("Pemberton seeks funding for additional soccer field and amenity building for its recreation lands," Jan. 29, 2019), the VOP wants to build a FIFA regulation-sized field and an amenity building with washrooms, storage and change-room facilities there.
The VOP has requested $3,083,815 for the project. Of this, the VOP would be required to cover $1,140,589 though it is looking to fund the build without any additional cost to taxpayers by splitting the cost with the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and using development-related fees.
The VOP will also continue to seek other funding opportunities to cover its portion, according to VOP staff.
The new budget is slated to receive readings one through three on April 2 at the regular council meeting, with final adoption at the April 16 regular council meeting.
Richman said he is happy with how the 2019 budget is shaping up.
"We've tried to keep our budget as tight as we can in the face of all this growth and activity that we've got," he said. "I think we found a good balance in that way."
According to staff, the municipal budget water-user rates for 2019 are set according to a five-year bylaw passed in 2016. It calls for an annual increase of $38.82 for single-family homes.
The sewer user rates are expected to be set in April, but staff estimates an increase of approximately $25 for single-family homes.
The amount of parcel tax that each family pays is not yet known, but it is expected to be a reduction from 2018, when the average single-family home paid approximately $165. It will be determined by the VOP parcel tax review panel on March 21.
