This is my first opportunity to write this column since the last election. Although necessary in our society, elections are not the nicest process to go through as a candidate. I was, and still am, quite proud of the accomplishments of the previous council. It was therefore somewhat unnerving as an incumbent to listen to many candidates criticize the activities and efforts of the previous council over the previous term. I am glad that the election is over and we can get on to community business.
Recently council and senior staff spent two days on Bowen Island at a strategic planning session to set priorities for the coming year. Although that may sound like a bit of a holiday, it is in fact an intensive work session. Having it out of town and away from the distractions of home and the usual business of city hall is valuable and allows for a concentrated work effort. The priorities set will, to a large extent, dictate the work plans for the various departments of the district's administration for this budget year.
There will be impacts on budget decisions arising from many of these priorities. We are presently finalizing some of the priority decisions and when that is completed in the next few weeks, they will be made public. Our list of priorities will provide the community with some idea of council's intended directions over the coming year and will also serve as a tool to measure council's performance for that period.
Although not yet public, if you paid attention to the platforms of the various members of council during the election, you will not likely be too surprised at most of the directions taken. This exercise allows individual councillors to put forward and debate their ideas for a better community.
Once priorities are finalized, we will be on to the budget process. I expect that this will be a difficult budget process this year. Although I feel Squamish is in very good financial shape (contrary to what you may have heard during the election), there will be many challenges to maintaining tax and service levels this year. Perhaps the most significant impact to our operating budget is the expected increase in policing costs. It is not the costs themselves that are expected to increase significantly but rather the share of those costs paid for by the district. Under the present and proposed agreements between the Province and Canada and, in turn, between the Province and municipalities, a municipality with a population of less than 15,000 pays 70 per cent of its policing costs. Once the population goes over 15,000 the share increases to 90 per cent. At the last census in 2006 our population was determined at 14,946. Although the census results from 2011 have not yet been announced, it is expected that our population is now over 15,000. The extra 20 per cent of costs that will have to be paid by Squamish if that is the case translates to about $1 million. If all else remained the same, that extra expenditure alone would require an increase in taxes of about five per cent. As I said, there will be many challenges in our budget process this year.
