A number of directors at the Cowichan Valley Regional District have the annual funding for new park lands in their cross-hairs as the board studies ways to keep a significant tax increase in 2025, that has been speculated will be in the double digits in some areas of the district, at bay.
The CVRD held a referendum in 2008 to establish a regional parks acquisition fund that passed with more than 70 per cent support from the electorate, and the draft budget for 2024 called for the fund to be increased to its maximum of $2.5 million for the year, after it had been underfunded for a number of preceding years.
But, with a ballooning tax increase projected for some in 2024, the board decided to reduce it to $958,000 for the year, the same amount that the draft budget has earmarked for the fund in 2025.
Tim McGonigle, mayor of Lake Cowichan, introduced a motion at the budget discussions during the board meeting on Jan. 22 that the amount be reduced to $458,000 in 2025 because he said it’s imperative that the board look at every possible opportunity to decrease spending in its financial discussions.
He said the CVRD is in its third year of implementing its new funding formula for regional recreation, which is having serious financial impacts in many areas in the district.
“When we look at other aspects within our budget that have also seen significant increases, including three-stream [waste collection] coming into the electoral areas, these are significant increases on an already archaic property tax system,” McGonigle said.
“Without another source of revenue, this is unsustainable.”
Cobble Hill director Mike Wilson said the members of the board have it in their power to reduce some of the costs to the CVRD taxpayers who deserve a break. He said the CVRD has had four years of large tax increases and a period of stability for those that need it is now required.
“I’m not saying we don’t need more regional parks, but perhaps this is not the time to keep putting away money for it,” Wilson said. “We just bought another parkland [the 75-hectare addition to Bald Mountain for $2.5 million] so I’m asking directors to think about what we need to do for the residents out there who need our help and our expertise in keeping their costs down.”
Youbou/Meade Creek director Karen Deck said she doesn’t think cuts should be made to the parks acquisition fund.
She said many have acknowledged that it’s critical to identify tangible projects and investments that will help or reverse biodiversity loss and create more resilient landscapes in the face of the increasing risk of wildfires, floods and droughts.
Cowichan Station/Sahtlam/Glenora director Alison Nicholson agreed, stating that the acquisition of parkland is one of the most important things the CVRD can do as a local government to invest in the future for its residents.
Asked what’s left in the parkland reserve funds after the recent purchase of the 75 hectares for Bald Mountain, finance director Tracy Bowen said there’s currently $1.8 million in capital reserves and just $6,900 in operating reserves.
Shawnigan Lake director Sierra Acton said she had been willing to support the motion to cut funding to the parkland acquisition fund, but finally decided that it wouldn’t be a very good idea.
North Oyster/Diamond director Ben Maartman said the issue of the parkland fund comes up every year during budget season and referred to it as a “relief valve” for directors who are not happy with the budget process.
“To me, if we’re getting to the point where we’re using a relief valve, then we haven’t done our jobs well enough,” he said. “I look at at [cutting funding to the parks acquisition fund] as spending my grandchildren’s future.”
Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls director Ian Morrison said that, from a transparency perspective, if the community knew the directors were debating cutting into the parkland acquisition fund at the meeting, “it wouldn’t make the sniff test”.
“This is a sacred trust that we hold,” he said. “If the [issue] is we don’t have a land purchase in the hopper right now and we’re just putting money aside for when that purchase happens, it’s exactly the purpose and principle of this fund, which is to ensure we have the ability when land opportunities come up.”
The motion to cut the funding to the parkland acquisition fund down to $458,000 in 2025 was defeated, with only Wilson, McGonigle and Saltair/Gulf Islands director Jesse McClinton voting in favour.
The CVRD plans to finalize its budget for 2025 in February.
Drafting budgets for the CVRD is a complex process as its annual budget is made up of more than 175 individual budgets.
The differences in tax rates across the CVRD stems mostly from the amount and types of services each region in the district has agreed to participate in and pay for.
This is different from municipal budgets where the costs are shared equally across the municipality.
The lowest tax increase in the draft budget for 2025 is $5.13 for an average home costing $860,229 in Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls (Electoral Area F), while then highest is $198.55 for an average home costing $702,932 in Ladysmith.
