This year’s municipal budget process is now in its closing stages following some final changes to the document.
Chief financial officer Kristen Watson presented a final draft of the budget to council last week which included changes to reduce this year’s property tax increase to 7.7 per cent, a number which had originally started at 9.5 per cent. This was done by reducing the number of future staff hirings in the year ahead and factoring in recent grants awarded, including a BC Hydro grant to fund heat pumps at the Fire Hall. In dollar terms this would represent an average property tax bill of $3,768 (based on average value of a Bowen home being $1.596 million).
Two of the remaining proposed hirings came under scrutiny though – a parks crew worker for the parks and roads departments ($35,205) and a booking coordinator for programming and front desk work at the Community Centre ($22,000).
“These feel like they’d be valuable for sure, but in light of the comments we’ve received on this… I’m inclined to think we need to look at finding ways to do things more efficiently, which typically means work sharing,” said Coun. John Saunders on the positions. “Those two things don’t feel critical, they feel nice to have… I think we have to chip away wherever we can.”
Director of engineering Patrick Graham explained another parks worker – a request which had been reduced from two new staff to one – was needed to maintain new terrain the municipality (BIM) has added in the past few years, including 1.6 km of Multi-Use Path, 5 km of trails, and now landscaping work at the new Community Centre. He added another employee could also help reduce reliance on contract jobs by having BIM staff perform the work, noting a pair of bridge repairs made by staff at the Golf Course last year which cost the municipality $5,000 instead of a quoted contractor price of $60,000.
“There’s already a gap between the expected level of service and what can be delivered with the limited staff that we have. Because we have a common crew for roads and parks, and there’s a need to prioritize tasks that relate to public safety, we end up prioritizing pothole repairs, hazard trees, brushing to maintain sightlines and dealing with critical drainage issues. What ends up falling behind a lot are the parks maintenance tasks,” said Graham.
Regarding a new booking coordinator for the Community Centre, recreation manager Gillian Drake said the position was needed to meet the expanded services the new facility is hoping to deliver. This includes evening and weekend coverage of the front desk along with handling bookings for the various rooms (aside from the theatre which will be managed by a separate production coordinator, who remains included in this year’s budget).
A new salt brining machine and fleet vehicle for the planning department – each costing $50,000 – were also called into question. Chief administrative officer Kirn Dhillon explained the vehicle was meant to accommodate an increase in site visits by the planning department as the Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plan is rolled out, along with more condition assessments. Currently planning staff use the bylaw services vehicle if it’s available, or their own.
Dhillon added the salt brining machine is intended to keep more salt on the roads as the existing granular salt is often blown off to the side by fast moving vehicles.
“I like to ensure that the things we said we’re going to do back in 2023/24 are still being met,” said Mayor Andrew Leonard, referencing the 9.5 per cent property tax increases envisioned for this year in past budgets. “I would be very opposed to lowering tax increases just to get a percentage down given the very high number of infrastructure costs that we’re going to be dealing with and our inability to take care of it from a budget and borrowing standpoint.”
On the staff positions in question, “I don’t feel that the operational need from last year to this year has been strongly justified,” he said of the proposed parks worker, while “the booking coordinator should be in the existing staff,” he commented on the recreation side.
The mayor also had reservations about a $25,000 proposal for a new Youth Centre. “I think the programming for that age group in terms of a youth and teen centre might need to be rethought in order for them to be more successful. To have a net-new facility that’s off-site with startup costs… I question whether that’s needed right now or can that be deferred for the future.”
“My belief here is that these 9.5 per cent increases that we committed to at the start of the term should be, the bulk of them, going toward our reserve funding as well as going to places like our accumulated surplus… This budget as it stands and its divergence with our previous financial plans, as well as some of the surprises that seem to be contained in it and the looming infrastructure crisis that we’re facing, I don’t feel it addresses that,” concluded the mayor.
The budget draft as presented (without any of the discussed changes) failed in a 5-2 vote, with Coun. Sue Ellen Fast and Tim Wake in support. Following that, an amended version of the budget removing the following items and deferring them to next year’s budget process was proposed: the parks crew worker, recreation booking coordinator, salt brining machine, fleet vehicle for the planning department, funding for a new Youth Centre, and upgraded audio/visual equipment for the new Council Chambers in the Municipal Hall portion of the Community Centre. It also restored the property tax increase stated in past financial plans. This updated version passed unanimously.
The property tax increase for 2025 will therefore revert from 7.7 per cent back up to 9.5 per cent, with the proposed savings found throughout the budget process put into reserve funds instead.
