It was certainly not the average Squamish resident that attended the town hall meeting at the Adventure Centre on Tuesday (March 29). After District of Squamish staff presented the 2011 budget to about 20 community members, council members faced heated and pointed questions about their decisions to date and even the future of the Squamish Adventure Centre.
Chief administrative officer Kevin Ramsay explained the reasons for the 2011 budget increase, currently projected at 2.8 per cent. He said the district's Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) agreement, which entitles all employees to an annual four per cent increase, accounts for 50 per cent of the increase.
Ramsay said the CUPE agreement is up for negotiation again before the end of the year.
He also explained that before council decided to approve council and staff priorities, thanks to efficiencies within the district, Squamish residents could have been looking at a 2.3 per cent decrease in property taxes.
But that wouldn't have included street lighting, dikes, bicycle lane maintenance, firefighter volunteer training, leadership development, bridge maintenance, election costs and more.
"We did realize $1.7 million in efficiencies," said Mayor Greg Gardner. "We could have been heroes this year and come forward with a very significant tax decrease but frankly, there's a lot of work to be done - there's a lot of projects we should have been dealing with that we didn't know we should be dealing with.
"We didn't know there were leaks in our water pipes, we didn't know the status of our infrastructure system, we didn't know we weren't doing bridge inspections."
Local political watchdog Terrill Patterson wasn't convinced.
"Every council at budget time says the same thing: 'Oh, Terrill, we cut as much as we could," he said.
"Let's look at this council - in 2009 there was almost a five per cent increase in property taxes and the following year you came up with a budget surplus miraculously for almost a half a million dollars. But that didn't stop the taxes from going up again in 2010, another almost five per cent. Now I see we have a surplus of $1.7 million but you're still raising taxes."
The need for economic development, district control of the Adventure Centre, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) annual pay raises and rising policing costs also were among the issues raised by citizens.
Astrid Anderson asked council what was going to happen with the Adventure Centre.
"What are you going to do with this building? It's costing the taxpayers a lot of money every year, year by year," she said.
Gardner said the district hopes to alleviate some of that cost by increasing revenues and said the only other alternative would be to sell the building.
Anderson was not upset at that possibility.
"Sell it. Yep, go for it," she said.
"Council, I can say, is not there at this time," replied Gardner, adding there was also a $500,000, district-guaranteed debt for the Squamish Sustainability Corporation (SSC).
Chamber of Commerce president Maurice Freitag said he was also concerned about the building and asked whether elected leaders are considering hiring an independent operator to "actually make it work."
As SSC chair, Cameron Chalmers reiterated Gardner's points.
"We haven't looked at taking the building private and there are a few reasons," he said.
"One, we still carry some debt that's guaranteed by the district so there's a public interest in the building at this point and the other is that it is a public facility and the current board feels there is a public role for this facility. We've spent a great deal of time over the past few months looking at how we can increase revenues and the profile of the building."
He said privatizing the building "is not something we've ruled out but not something we'll be moving on quickly."
Resident Larry Murray criticized the district's decision to create two new positions - a financial analyst and a human resources advisor - particularly in light of the district's massive staffing costs.
He said the district should consider contract out both positions as needed.
"Having those folks on staff brings fixed costs and a computer and an office and a salary," he said.
He also criticized the lack of focus on economic development, and wondered why that position wasn't added.
Gardner clarified that the district was adding an economic sustainability co-ordinator after much deliberation over an economic development strategy.
"The person you're talking about is being hired this year," Gardner said.
"One of the reasons council moved slowly and carefully on this is: It does not do that position or the person fulfilling that position any good to think they alone are going to be the answer to economic development in this community."
Inside Edge president David Crewson said it appeared the district highlights land development as the only avenue for economic development and asked whether the mayor considered council's approach as multi-faceted.
Gardner said that was the intent.
"What we're trying to do is create an environment where businesses that create jobs flourish," he said.
One resident voiced concerns about Ramsay's comment that RCMP costs would increase by $1 million in 2012 because of Squamish's population and asked whether council thought that was fair and whether lawmakers could do anything about it.
"Absolutely barbaric," muttered Coun. Doug Race.
"It's not our jurisdiction," Gardner replied. "It's actually federal money that subsidizes it and the Province just goes to bat for us, hopefully in getting the best deal they can from the federal government.
"It's a bit frustrating for us because it's our money, it's negotiated by Victoria, and I don't think we have as much input into that as we'd like to have. They cut a deal with Ottawa and we get a bill."
Patterson ended the evening by suggesting the district make sure it doesn't drown in negotiations with CUPE again.
"That four per cent increase was not feasible and with negotiations coming up, you better have someone who's good at negotiating."
He also revisited the surplus issue.
"My question is: 'What is the surplus going to be when I attend this meeting in 2012?'" he asked.
Ramsay said there would not be a surplus in 2011, to which Patterson replied sarcastically, "sure."
"Wanna bet?" Ramsay said.
