DUNCAN – The Board of Directors of the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) adopted the Regional District’s 2016-2020 Five Year Financial Plan at a special meeting held December 9.
“This is the earliest date the CVRD has ever adopted a five year financial plan” says Chair Jon Lefebure. “It took a profound shift in the budget preparation cycle; determination by the Board of Directors in time and energy; and extreme hard work by the Finance Division and staff throughout the organization to accomplish this feat”.
Early adoption of the 2016 budget allows the CVRD to start its capital projects sooner in the New Year which should translate into more favorable pricing. Significant capital items include $1.7 million for the Trans-Canada Trail; $2.4 million for a new Fire Hall in Electoral Area H – North Oyster/Diamond; $2.7 million for a new Arbutus Ridge sewer treatment and disposal system in Electoral Area C – Cobble Hill; $2 million for Cowichan Lake’s Meade Creek Recycling Centre; and $1.3 million for upgrades to the Cowichan Lake, Kerry Park and Island Savings Centre recreation facilities.
There are planned expenditures of $83.7 million which is an increase of $4.1 million (5.2 percent) over the 2015 budget year. This increase is a result of capital increasing by $7.4 million, while operating expenditures are decreasing by $3.3 million. The overall tax requisition is increasing by $1,582,423 million (4.88 percent). The municipal share of this increase is $266,478 and the increase for the electoral areas is $1,157,290.
However, since each member municipality and electoral area participates in different services, the impact to each jurisdiction is different. The Municipality of North Cowichan will see the largest municipal increase at $232,489 (3.22 percent) while the Town of Lake Cowichan will see the smallest increase at $2,587 (0.27 percent). All nine electoral areas will see an increase in their share of the CVRD requisition ranging from a high of $371,174 (7.52 percent) in Electoral Area B – Shawnigan Lake to a low of $71,307 (3.73 percent) for Electoral Area D – Cowichan Bay.
The three services that contain the largest increases are Parks at $510,636; Electoral Area Services at $526,141; and Recreation at $292,561. There has also been a new Arts and Culture service added to the 2016 Budget which has an expense budget of $130,000.
