Editor:
Last week’s Coast Reporter had floods on page one (“Washout prompts evacuation”) and water conservation on page 18 (“Water-meter pros and cons heard ahead of budget vote”).
We have so much water it’s damaged roads and threatened homes. The SCRD’s slavish adherence to the idea that we’re short of water is nuts. Clearly what we’re dealing with is an infrastructure issue, and the SCRD continues to treat it as if it were a water shortage problem.
Metering, a tool for reducing consumption, might be useful in California where years-long drought is a regular occurrence, but the Sunshine Coast is not one of those places. We have no need for American-style metering, and other means of monitoring leaks are available, since the SCRD claims the meters are for leaks detection.
Please admit that the problem is infrastructure-oriented and apply an appropriate property tax. For those concerned about seniors on a fixed income and still living in their homes, they can defer those taxes. Utility fees cannot be deferred.
Hardest hit by metering will be low-income families and renters, and retirees who came here to garden or farm, a significant number of people, judging by the activity in the local garden clubs, the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden, the multitudes of garden supply outlets, and the number people who are employed by that demand. Seniors in Gibsons are tearing out their gardens because of metering, while gardening is proven to be healthful both physically and mentally. Take our gardens away and the demand on the health care system increases. And, does anyone enjoy a dead or dying environment? Apparently the SCRD Board of Directors does.
Property taxes are how communities pay for needed infrastructure. Water is plentiful. Charging by the litre is unfair taxation while imposing property taxes shares the burden of paying for infrastructure fairly.
Kathy Para, Gibsons
