Budget discussions have begun at Nanaimo City Hall, starting with a 3.3 per cent property tax increase. (file photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

budget talks

City of Nanaimo’s property tax discussions start with 3.3 per cent increase

Nov 25, 2020 | 5:43 PM

NANAIMO — The tough task of creating a municipal budget during a global pandemic has begun.

Nanaimo councillors started a lengthy process on Wednesday, Nov. 25 during an all-day finance and audit committee discussion. They heard from many departments, including finance and Nanaimo RCMP.

The 2021 property tax increase is currently projected at 3.3 per cent. One per cent of the increase is the annual amount set aside for asset management, which funds the maintenance and replacement of City infrastructure.

User fees for water are slated to rise the most at 7.5 per cent, followed by sanitation at 5.8 per cent and sewer user fees at 4 per cent.

The average Nanaimo taxpayer, based on a home assessed at roughly $527,000 by BC Assessment, will pay an additional $132 in 2021. This is a rise to $3,242 from last year’s $3,110.

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This does not include fees for the Regional District of Nanaimo, school district, Vancouver Island Regional Library and hospital.

General manager of corporate services Shelley Legin told councillors staff were keenly aware of the pressure they were under when creating their department budgets.

“We reduced operating expenditures across the board. Every budget holder was asked to tighten their belt and we took hundreds of small amounts out of the budget,” Legin said.

Increases to the Nanaimo RCMP budget and City wages are considered the key drivers behind the 2021 budget.

The property tax increase was initially slated to be around 6 per cent to compensate for lost City revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City is expected to lose nearly $4.7 million in revenues, nearly half of which is from the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre.

The City received a $6.7 million lifeline from the federal government in November.

The money must be fully used in 2020 to cover the loss of revenues from casinos, parking and recreation centres, such as the aquatic centre. The federal funding can also be used to cover expenditures such as increased fees for dumping waste at the landfill given the higher amount of recycling placed on the curb and higher costs of custodial work during the pandemic.

The federal funding is slated to be used instead of the $3 million set aside into reserves by councillors earlier in the pandemic. The Special Initiatives Reserves is now planned to reduce property taxes, reinstate three new positions with the City and help pay for delayed infrastructure projects.

Legin said crafting a City of Nanaimo budget for 2021 was difficult, as they tried to balance recovery from the rough year while planning for more difficult times ahead.

“We do believe COVID-19 is still an unknown. We don’t know how long it’s going to persist and we think there should be some contingency in 2021 and 2022 to deal with the persistence of COVID-19.”

The 3.3 per cent property tax increase is expected to change as councillors hear from departments and debate additional staffing at City Hall.

Two management positions and additional RCMP resources are currently not included in the budget.

The special finance and audit committee meetings continue every Wednesday until Dec. 4, culminating with an e-town hall on Dec. 7 for the public to provide input.

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