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Pemberton moves forward with 6.32% municipal tax rate

Capital expenditures will total $6,551,589, largely funded by $5.3-million federal government grant
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The Village of Pemberotn council gave readings one to three of its five-year financial plan on Tuesday, April 2.

The Village of Pemberton (VOP)council gave readings one to three of its five-year financial plan at its April 2 regular council meeting, raising the tax rate to 6.32 per cent, 0.57 per cent more than council recommended last month at budget meetings.

The discrepancy is to account for for new property assessments stemming from the Revised BC Assessment Role, which the province provided to the VOP on Friday.

"We've kept the same dollar number for the budget," said VOP Mayor Mike Richman, explaining the change in rate (see "Pemberton accounts for Employer Health Tax in 2019 budget," Pique, March 18).

The VOP has budged capital expenditures of $6,551,589 in 2019. The budget is unusually large this year, due to a $5.3-million federal government grant awarded to the VOP in 2018 for its downtown enhancement project.

In 2019, there are no proposed tax increases for operations, capital projects, and general revenues.

Instead, the additional revenue generated by the tax hike is going towards paying 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).

Property and business owners in the VOP's industrial park have raised concerns about the proposed tax rate ("Pemberton industrial park business owners raise concerns about municipal taxes," Pique, March 26).

Following the April 2 council meeting, Richman acknowledged that they will see an increase in what they pay.

"The industrial park, for certain, will see a rise because of the increased value there," he said.

However, he added, some residential property owners may not see much of a change from what they paid last year.

"It really depends your property, where it is, and how it's assessed," he said. "(But) overall, residentially, the average (increase) is fairly flat."

Much of the variability is due to demand for various types of property, he added.

"There has been a large and continued demand for townhouses and condos, so some of them will feel a tax increase as a result, because their assessment has grown more, relative to a single-family home in the Glen or on the hill," said Richman.

Council also passed a resolution that will increase sewer user fees, with a single-family dwelling to pay $517.24 in 2019, up from $491.49 in 2018.

The frontage tax for sewer will be set at $5.875 per metre of sewer, down from $6.67 in 2018.

The money raised will be used to add an additional $40,000 to the VOP's sewer-capital-reserve fund, which was created in 2018.

"Last year was the first year we brought that in," explained VOP Chief Administrative Officer Nikki Gilmore. "This year, we're just upping it again, which is similar to what we've done with the water (reserve)."

There will now be $80,000 set aside in the reserve, she said.

Council is committed to building up reserves on key files such as sewer and roads.

"We've left ourselves really unprotected over the years," said Richman, noting that the sewer reserve can be drawn upon if an unforeseen "major issue" arises with the VOP's sewer treatment plant.

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, meaning a single-family dwelling will pay $593.45 annually for water in 2019.

The water frontage tax has been reduced to $3.88 down from $4.36 in 2018, per metre for water infrastructure.

Richman commended the VOP's manager of finance and administration, Lena Martin, for the 2019 budget, noting that he had recently met with third-party independent auditors (a requirement of the municipality) who liked what they saw.

"Their review was quite complimentary," said Richman. "They feel we have really good protective controls in place within our financial department and the information is clear and straight forward."

For a full list of the 2019 capital expenditures, you can see the council agenda here: pemberton.ca/public/download/documents/82517.