The Regional District of Okananagan-Similkameen has given second reading to its five-year financial plan.
The plan originally came to the regional district board for first reading on Jan. 21. At that time, it was sent out for public consultation.
For second reading, a number of amendments were made.
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The plan includes more than 200 pages of figures and documents covering the various operations of the regional district.
For 2021, the regional district has a budget of $20,432,219, an increase of 1.6 per cent from the 2020 budget. Earlier, the budget had showed an expected 2.8 per cent increase.
Not all areas within the regional district are affected in the same way.
The incorporated communities, including Penticton, Summerland, Princeton, Oliver, Osoyoos and Keremeos account for $6,053,406 of the budget, a decrease of 0.01 per cent.
The nine electoral areas account for $14,277,276, or an increase of 2.26 per cent from the 2020 budget. Electoral Areas B and E are both seeing small decreases, while Electoral Area A will see a 3.68 per cent increase. Electoral area D will see a 4.3 per cent increase and Electoral Area H will see a 5.12 per cent increase.
A total of $473,000 from the COVID-19 Safe Restart Grant will be distributed to each electoral area. The funds have been used to offset lost revenue or decrease expenses related to the pandemic.
The plan is scheduled to come back to the board for adoption on March 18, the last regular meeting of the regional district board before the March 31 deadline for the plan to be submitted to the province.
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