During the online Apr. 20, District of Barriere Council meeting, Councilor Scott Kershaw expressed concern about the financial situation of tax payers in the community due to COVID-19. He suggested that Barriere Council revisit their 2020 Tax Rate and Financial Plan Bylaws before submission to the province as it was showing a 6.5% tax increase, even if it meant skipping various reserve fund installments for the year.
“I agree with councilor Kershaw, that sending out a notice with a tax increase this year is not a good idea,” added Councilor
Donna Kibble.
Mayor Stamer noted that Barriere is not the only municipality having this conversation.
“This is unprecedented to our tax payees, and also to the rest of the country,” said Stamer, “If we keep taxes the same this
year, how much money will we be taking from our approved budget? What would that dollar value look like?”
After discussion, the consensus was to direct District staff to research into cash flow and taxation options and to bring a
report back to a Special Council Meeting where a decision would be made.
That special meeting (which was open to the public) took place online last Monday, Apr. 27.
On the subject of revising the approved 2020 taxation budget, District staff reported, “In an effort to reduce the reliance on money from grants or annual surpluses that is accumulated in surplus accounts for annual roads operations, Council has been instituting a 5% tax increase as the starting point for annual tax increases in the operating budget for the last few years. This has allowed the monies being transferred from Roads Surplus to Roads Operations to be reduced by that 5% amount each year this practice is in place. The result, over time, is that Roads Surplus and Reserve accounts would be dedicated to capital roads projects and equipment while general taxation would pay for the annual maintenance.”
Staff recommended that to bring Council’s previously approved 6.5% increase down to a 0% increase for 2020, the 5% increase will be abolished for this year, and that the amount taken from roads surplus for operations stays the same as 2019. The further decrease to 0% is accomplished by:
1) Reducing the transfer to General Surplus at the end of the year;
2) Reducing the transfers to NTACS from the Recreation Healthy Living budget line item for gymnasium rentals at the Ridge for at least four months since there will be no rental costs at this time; and,
3) Reducing the line items for Council travel and workshops as many of these will most likely happen virtually this year.
After discussion Mayor Stamer moved to accept the recommendation that council direct staff to prepare the necessary bylaws to rescind the previously adopted 2020 Tax Rate and Financial Plan Bylaws that will reflect the newly presented 2020 Budget in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact, and that they be brought back to council for consideration at the May 4, 2020 Regular Council Meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilor Kershaw, and unanimously approved.
An amendment to District Of Barriere Water Restrictions Bylaw No. 0039, 2009, was also on the agenda, and was unanimously approved, this will assist citizens in keeping gardens, and/or newly planted gardens, adequately watered.
Changes to the Bylaw are: Section 7.1 b) i) – is amended by deleting this Section and inserting the following in its place: 7.1 b) i) gardens, trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables on any day at any time if watering is done by hand-held container or a hose equipped with a shutoff nozzle;
3. Section 7.2 b) i) and ii) – are amended by deleting these Sections and inserting the following in their place:
7.2. b) i) gardens, trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables if watering is done by hand-held container or a hose equipped with a shut-off nozzle but only during the prescribed Stage 1 watering hours and days;
7.2 b) ii) water newly planted lawns, gardens, trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables if watering is done by hand-held container or a hose equipped with a shut-off nozzle during installation and for the following 24 hours.
Municipal Wells Update: District of Barriere Utilities Manager Ian Crosson reported to council during the meeting on the current status of municipal wells. In relation to the Bradford wells, Crosson stated, “Thanks to District staff, and the assistance of many individuals, we pretty much have PW1 ready to go online. There are still a couple of pending things to do; health sample requirements and programming changes to protect the system through alarm safeguards.”
He also reported that a quote has been obtained from Mountain View electric after a site visit to PW3 last week, and there is approval from Theirry Carriou of BC Groundwater. Ground work will still need to be done at Bradford including back filling sand and stone, with Defiance contracting hired for that. Estimated cost to bring online at this time is $60,000.
Crosson said he expects to start this right after the May long weekend with a start up date of June 1, subject to BC Groundwater.
“We will have to condition the wells again for a week or two,” Crosson said, “The Bradford wells will be the lead wells for the community, Spruce will be in behind it.”
Mayor Stamer commented, “At some point we may need to have some kind of filtration system, and we will be pursuing grant applications for that.”
Asked when will Interior Health will give the okay to use PW1? Crosson answered, “I am sending the samples off to them this week, and we should get the results back in two days or so.”
The next District of Barriere Council meeting will take place on May 4, at 7 p.m. via audioconference online.
