By Ian Holmes

Capital projects drive up proposed RDN budget

Nov 24, 2016 | 4:33 PM

NANAIMO — Capital projects dominate the Regional District of Nanaimo’s (RDN) $157-million preliminary budget.

Nearly $63-million, or 40 per cent, of the budget is set aside for several capital projects, including the ongoing secondary wastewater treatment project at Hammond Bay, the Englishman River water treatment project, and several parks initiatives.

“As a government to be responsible, you’ve got to deal with capital expenditures,” said RDN Board Chair Bill Veenhof. “If you don’t, all you’re doing is putting it off to the future. When you do that you get decay of your infrastructure and you’re putting a huge tax burden on people in the future.”

Veenhof says services aren’t been compromised.

“We’re not cutting back from where we were. We’re reasonably comfortable that we’re in a good spot as it relates to local government services. It’s being managed by tax increases,” he said.

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Those proposed tax increases range between a decrease of 2.6 per cent for area ‘H’ homeowners in the Bowser area to increases as high as 11.2 per cent for area ‘B’ on Gabriola Island, according to a Regional District staff report. A Gabriola Island homeowner with an assessed property value of $300,000 would pay $36 more in taxes, if the proposed budget holds up.

The Regional District pegs revenues for next year at nearly $153-million, with $49.2-million generated through property taxes, according to the RDN report.

Public consultations for the RDN’s 2017 proposed budget are planned for February and the document will likely be approved by the board next March.