The board of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) has decided against re-allocating money it receives annually from B.C. Hydro to help out the financially challenged District of Lillooet this year.
Lillooet made the request to the SLRD last fall to receive an additional $300,000 money from PILT (payments in lieu of taxes) revenues the district receives, which would have come from general governance in the 2013 budget. A report on the financial effect of that reallocation at the SLRD board meeting last Monday (Jan. 28) showed it would result in increases to the requisition from other communities of 36 per cent, which is equivalent to a one per cent increase in property taxes to residents of communities like Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton or reduced services the SLRD provides by cutting its budget significantly.
SLRD chair Patricia Heintzman said the issue is complex and not just about redistributing money. She said it would be a significant change in policy that the board will need more time to consider, as it is a "fairly big decision."
As a result, Heintzman said the board decided unanimously to leave the way the PILT funding is used in 2013 unchanged.
"What we have decided is this year we are not going to change anything," she said. "I suspect the board did that for a number of reasons.
"There are quite a few implications budget- and policy-wise if we start to change the PILT policy, so we have to analyze that."
The issue will be discussed at a board meeting in the near future to determine whether the board is willing to dig into that policy at all. Other directors at the SLRD board table have suggested that Lillooet pursue a boundary change to realize increased revenues from B.C. Hydro's Bridge River 1 and Bridge River 2 power plants that are adjacent to the community.
Heintzman said the board is sensitive to the challenges Lillooet is going through financially.
"We want to help when we can and want to make sure it is done the right way," she said, adding that area of the district received more Gas Tax funding last year as a result of the board's decision to allocate more money north because of Lillooet's longstanding financial situation.
