Langford, Esquimalt and View Royal taxpayers will see whopping increases in the Capital Regional District portion of their property taxes next year as the cost of building sewage treatment starts hitting home.
All three municipalities face increases in the range of 19 per cent for CRD costs, largely to pay for their portion of the $5 million a year the CRD is setting aside for sewage treatment. The three collect the cost of sewage treatment through property taxes, unlike municipalities such as Saanich and Victoria, which collect through the water bill.
Because CRD services are funded through many means, including grants, user fees and taxes, and different municipalities pay for different bundles of services, the CRD portion of the property tax bill varies depending on where you live. In some municipalities, such as Sidney and Central Saanich, the CRD tax bill has actually dropped.
In Esquimalt, the 19.33 per cent increase will mean another $60.29 for the average home (assessed at $467,412) for an estimated bill of $372.21. Add in Capital Region Hospital District and Municipal Finance Authority debt costs and the total jumps to $671.60.
“I was stunned to see 19.33 per cent in Esquimalt,” said acting CRD director Lynda Hundleby, an Esquimalt councillor.
In Langford, the 19.65 per cent increase is about $37.68 on the average home (assessed at $413,575) for an estimated CRD tax bill of $229.49. Once the finance authority debt and hospital district portions are added in, the total is estimated at $379.14.
Langford director Coun. Denise Blackwell called the increase “a big hit.” She said her municipality will consider shifting the sewage treatment costs onto water bills.
In View Royal, the 18.02 per cent increase will add about $43.21 on the average home (assessed at $502,688) for a total CRD tax bill of about $282.97. Add in hospital district and finance authority costs and the total increases to $484.66.
CRD chairman Alastair Bryson noted that some municipalities, such as Sidney, will see decreases in the CRD tax requisition largely because they are retiring debt.
“I realize with some of the special projects, like the core area liquid waste management plan, that has a huge leverage effect on certain municipalities, there’s no doubt about it,” Bryson said.
“But I will say that the Saanich Peninsula went through this challenging decision in the 1990s to build a sewage treatment plant. We saw our requisition go up to cover that debt and, actually, what we’re seeing today is that our requisition is substantially lower and we have a very modern, fully functional sewage treatment plant. So you do get beyond it,” Bryson said.
The total CRD budget is expected to increase 4.9 per cent in 2014. Key drivers are an increase in the regional parks acquisition levy (0.7 per cent); introduction of sewage treatment costs (2.2 per cent); and basic operating cost hikes of about 1.6 per cent.
A staff report notes that not only are labour agreements up for negotiation in the coming year, the region is facing a number of payroll and benefit cost increases.
