The Town of Ladysmith is among 10 south Island municipalities potentially seeing a big spike in property tax rates as a result of having to pay directly for their 911 dispatch. (Dreamstime)

By Alex Rawnsley

calls for service

Ladysmith & other Island municipalities fighting proposed download of 911 dispatch costs

Jan 31, 2025 | 9:52 AM

LADYSMITH — Taxpayers in the community are potentially looking at a rapid 2.6 per cent hike in property taxes to maintain access to 911 services.

Beginning in April, the provincial government is planning to force some municipal governments on the south Island to cover their portion of E-Comm 911 contracts, which provides dispatch for emergency services.

Acting Mayor Tricia McKay told NanaimoNewsNOW Ladysmith’s share would be $221,000 for the first year, equating to a 2.6 per cent jump in property taxes on top of an “already substantial burden.”

“All municipalities including Ladysmith are feeling the same pressures through inflation. We have all kinds of pressures on us that just seem to be continually downloaded back onto the municipalities.”

McKay said in addition to frustrations around the proposed cost hike, communication from the province has been inconsistent.

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A first announcement in 2020 warned municipalities of the pending move, but the story kept changing.

“The stand from the province up until this point in a formal way has been ‘this is coming, get ready to pay it’. But at the [Union of B.C. Municipalities] conference last year in Vancouver…we were led to believe there would be some relief from it and not to be too worried about it but that has not been followed through with.”

Around 40 municipalities in B.C. have their dispatch services paid for by the federal and provincial governments, while others contract directly through E-Comm 911.

The organization is owned by local, provincial and federal member agencies.

Total cost for the service between April and December 2025, spread across ten jurisdictions on southern Vancouver Island, is $4.9 million.

Municipalities pay their share based on population size and expected call volumes.

McKay fears the practice of pushing 911 costs onto local government will only continue.

“It’s not clear to me, or I think to anyone, why it’s happening the way it’s happening. It’s these 10 municipalities being singled out to take on the full cost of what everybody else in the province has shared provincially, it’s very odd.”

A conference call with the affected municipalities and the provincial government is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 4, where McKay hopes a resolution can be found.

She added in the meantime, local government continues to try and find a solution which will minimize, or mitigate, the impact on local taxpayers.

In addition to Ladysmith, residents in North Cowichan, Duncan, Langford, Colwood, Metchosin, North Saanich, Sidney, Sooke and View Royal would also be affected.

Both the City of Nanaimo and the Regional District of Nanaimo entered into an agreement with the City of Surrey in 2021 for dispatch services through their facility in the Lower Mainland.

The move was done as a cost-cutting measure locally, with the Surrey dispatch service handling over 40 agencies in B.C. and over 80,000 annual calls for service.

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