School District 71 could make some more money from selling off unused properties thanks to the 2012 provincial budget.”The government signalled a desire to be disposing of properties that are surplus to government’s needs, and that includes some of the surplus properties that we may have,” secretary-treasurer Russell Horswill told the Record.District staff are compiling a report of unused properties that could be sold. This report will be presented at the next board meeting on March 27.According to Horswill, no rules have changed but now the Ministry of Education is encouraging the disposition of unused properties, whereas before it was not.Where the money from sales would go depends on how the property was bought originally, according to Horswill, who added that some of the school properties in the Comox Valley were purchased as far back as the ’20s and ’30s.”We have to work with the government to try to figure out how the property was paid for,” said Horswill. “But regardless, the money does not go back to government.”The money would either go to the local capital reserve or a restricted capital reserve. If it goes to the restricted capital reserve, school districts still need the Ministry’s approval to spend it, but if it goes to the local reserve, trustees can make the decision by themselves.”It allows the local school trustees to assess their needs from a property point of view and if they do determine there are surplus properties there’s an environment now where they can be disposed of,” explained Horswill.”And then that money’s available for the school jurisdiction to use in our facility and capital planning.”That means that there’s money available to support some of the other facility issues that we have in the Valley,” explained Horswill, noting upgrades to existing facilities as an example.However, Horswill stressed that the decision to sell off unused properties will not be taken lightly.”Really, the most important thing would be to make sure that dispositions of property are happening in a strategic way, where we’re not just getting rid of it for the sake of accumulating money in the capital reserves, so it has to be a very long-term perspective,” said Horswill, adding that SD71 will look at least 10 to 15 years down the road when considering an unused property.Horswill said he’s unsure how many properties could potentially be sold right now because the report is in the preliminary stages. But, he noted that a treed area to the east of Vanier Secondary School, which the district has considered subdividing for years, could be one that’s sold.”For many years, the school jurisdiction’s been working to get a subdivision approved and that’s one area that likely would be put up for sale once the subdivision and zoning has been sorted out,” said Horswill.”Right now, it’s going through an environmental study, and we’re hoping by the end of this calendar year to have a decision on whether it can be subdivided or not.”  writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com

Comox Valley Record