If the District of Squamish moves forward with a zero per cent property tax revenue increase next year, residents will have to swallow transit cuts and the loss of the town's only youth centre.
On Tuesday (Nov. 19), the district kicked off its 2014 budget process with a workshop, the first step in an ambitious process that aims to nail down the financial plan by January. District staff presented council with three scenarios a zero per cent budget increase, a 6.2 per cent increase to maintain current service levels and a staff-recommended 7.7 per cent increase that includes reserve fund payments.
Phased-in RCMP cost sharing, labour contracts and debt servicing alone place the district's financial needs $1.3 million above last year's budget, equating to a 6.2 per cent increase, said Corien Speaker, the district's chief administrative officer.
As a result, getting to a zero per cent increase requires some difficult cuts, she warned.
We do not believe that all of them would be accepted by the community, Speaker said.
The Squamish Youth Resource Centre, transit routes and the district's Community Enhancement Grants and Grants in Aid would be on the chopping block.
The district has a contract with Sea to Sky Community Services to fund the town's youth centre to a tune of $125,000 in 2014 and $252,000 annually afterwards. Maintenance on the building, the former RCMP detachment, located across from Howe Sound Secondary School, costs the district $3,500 annually, but the building needs $320,000 worth of upgrades, said Tim Hoskin, the district's director of recreation services.
It would require $70,000 capital to demolish the building, he said.
To soften the blow, the Squamish Seniors Centre could become a community centre after 3 p.m., taking in the estimated 666 visits per month the youth centre currently receives, Hoskin said.
Ultimately officials want to see the province step up to the plate in aiding one of Squamish's few programs that supports teenagers at risk, Hoskin said, noting Victoria pitches $20,000 toward the initiative.
The zero per cent plan reduces transit's budget by 24 per cent $246,000. That would significantly impact services, possibly eliminating some of the new transit routes implemented this year, said Rod MacLeod, the district's director of engineering. With the municipality's transit coordinator also axed, officials would turn to B.C. Transit for advice on which lines weren't receiving foot traffic, he noted.
Community enhancement grants came under fire. To attain the mighty zero, staff proposed slashing the grant kitty almost in half, carving $70,123 out of the current $160,123 fund, said Christine Matthews, the municipality's manager of financial planning.
The plan also calls for chopping planned upgrades to the Government and Depot roads intersection and dredging slated for the Mamquam Blind Channel.
Council and the public are faced with some challenging choices, said Joanne Greenlees, the district's manager of finance.
At the end of the day we had to make some tough decisions of what goes forward, she said.
Council and Squamish residents have three weeks to digest the information before the next budget workshop on Tuesday, Dec. 10. At that point, officials will discuss various budget options, Mayor Rob Kirkham said.
We have looked at a zero [per cent budget increase] and what it takes to get to zero, he said. On Dec. 10 we will have a discussion on the reality of getting to zero.
Residents are asked to submit questions and share comments via email [email protected] or [email protected] or the district's 2014 Financial Planning Process Facebook site or via Twitter using the hashtag #SQbudget. One can also comment by visiting www.squamish.ca/budget and select the button Get in touch with us. Residents can also mail comments to Council, District of Squamish, P.O. Box 310, Squamish, B.C. V8B 0A3.
