The Regional District Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) has drafted another record-setting budget.
The March 13 draft of the 2023 RDKB budget and Five Year Financial Plan released by Chief Financial Officer, Barb Ihlen, indicates a total annual budget nearing $93,000,000. This number is up $370,000+ from the previous highest budget in RDKB history; $92,500,000+ in 2022.
East End Services, which collectively includes Fruitvale, Montrose, Trail, Warfield and Rossland as well as Areas A and B, should expect tax hikes due to increase costs in most services.
According to the report, the tax requisition for RDKB stakeholders has increased about 10 per cent from 2022; going from just over $24, 100,000 last year to more than $26,600,000 in 2023.
The requisition total for Trail is up four per cent, and sits at $4.9M. Rossland had the biggest increase of 11 per cent from $2M to $2.26M, Warfield up 10 per cent to $750,000, Montrose $543,000 up seven per cent, and Fruitvale $1.3M, up five per cent. Area A will see an increase of six per cent, to $2.85M and Area B up nine per cent to $1.38M.
“The budget increased significantly in 2022, which was driven by the water treatment plant upgrade in service 700 – East End Regionalized Sewer Utility,” Ihlen wrote in her staff report to RDKB directors. “The requisition increase is mainly driven by individual service delivery requirements. Some services have increased staffing costs, while others have increased their debt costs.
“In addition, other services who are utilizing reserves to smooth out the tax requisitions over the last couple of years have less of an opportunity to do so in 2023,” she noted.
“Since each service is unique and accounted for individually, this report details the variations within each service.”
General government services will more than double for 2023, with East End requisitions jumping from $560,000 to $1.13M. The City of Trail is expected to pay $234,000+, Rossland $127,300, Warfield $29,500, Fruitvale almost $34,000, Area A $90,700 and Area B close to $60,000.
Big ticket items include the regional waste management requisition which will see a 23 per cent increase for East End communities going from $1.56M to $1.92M in 2023.
Trail’s requisition is almost $400,000 for waste management, Rossland’s $216,000, Warfield $50,000 Montrose about $31,500, and Fruitvale $58,000. Area A will contribute $154,000 and Area B $100,000.
At the Feb. 22 RDKB directors meeting, Janine Dougal, manager of environmental services, presented the regional solid waste budget contributing much of the increase to large capital projects like the curbside organics rollout with related upgrades to McKelvey Creek landfill, and the start of the Columbia Pollution Control Centre upgrade project for 2023-24.
Increasing development costs have also raised original projections.
The McKelvey Creek project budget has climbed significantly with an increase of $700,000 over original budget numbers supporting the new curbside organics service for rollout in September 2023.
In addition, dam revenues that have supported this budget in the past will come to an end this year.
Warfield Councillor Ray Masleck said in his committee report to council Jan. 24 that “the budgets for Trail area services were passed with astonishing speed during a three hour meeting that included more than an hour of delegations.”
Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue budget topped $5.4M, a 10 per cent increase from 2022, with East End services up eight per cent to $4.16M.
Trail will cover $1.64M of the fire protection service with Rossland paying $892,500, Warfield $207,000, Montrose $130,000 and Fruitvale $238,000. Area A costs will exceed $636,000 and Area B’s $412,000.
The East End sewer service will see an increase from $1.71M to $1.85M with Trail paying about 68 per cent or $1.24M, compared to $348,000 and Warfield $261,000. The three municipalities share the service based on an annual flow rate.
East End Transit will also go up seven per cent to $1.12M, with Trail accounting for $483,000 and Rossland $262,000, Area A $187,000 and Area B $121,000.
The biggest breaks will come with the cancellation of the Animal Control contract with the BC SPCA that will save almost $95,000, and a 60 per cent or $386,000 savings from culture arts and recreation budget due to the sale of the Greater Trail Community Centre to Selkirk College.
According to Ihlen, “as the 2022 fiscal year end is finalized over the coming weeks, any significant variances to any of the services will be presented to the board for approval on March 29 prior to the approval of the 2023-2027 Five Year Financial Plan bylaw.”
Each year, the adoption of the Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw must happen by March 31 as required by Section 374 of the Local Government Act.
Once it is finalized the East End municipalities and Areas A and B can finalize their respective budgets.