The city’s struggle to find the money to replace or fix aging roads and sewer and water lines continues to affect taxpayers, indicates 2024 budget information now before the public for comment.
This is the third year the city is raising taxes by an additional one per cent for what’s called the “assessment management reserve,” a specific account to pay for infrastructure replacement.
It means the increase, amounting to $184,624 for 2024, is on top of the one per cent in 2022 — the first year the extra tax was introduced — and the one per cent in 2023.
Plans call for an additional one per cent in 2025 and another one per cent each year thereafter until a 10 per cent increase is reached.
That increase of one per cent per year for 10 years is a requirement based on provincially-imposed asset management financial planning, said city finance director Lori Greenlaw.
It is subject to review by council each year.
This year’s one per cent hike is part of an overall 9.31 per increase amounting to $1.726 million.
The tax was to have been introduced in 2021 but council held off, citing opposition by taxpayers who said the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting their finances.
The need for money to replace infrastructure has been a focus of city finance director Lori Greenlaw who has pointed out to council that nearly $15 million in provincial grants in 2019 and 202o for capital projects will be mostly committed by the end of 2024.
As it is, the city has a list of ‘to do’ capital projects amounting to more than $50 million for which it has no money.
Infrastructure challenges are not the only item on the tax bill awaiting local taxpayers.
Taxes are increasing by 1.5 per cent or $274,458 to cover increased RCMP costs and another $242,250 or 1.31 per cent represents a plan to bring in more officers.
The city wants to hire three additional officers but is providing the money for the equivalent of 1.5 officers this year, partially to ease the budget implications and partially recognizing that more officers won’t be available when the budget year begins Jan. 1, 2024.
The city is also going to hire two more firefighters at $171,470 or a tax hike of .93 per cent so that more firefighters are on regular duty, a factor that will mean reduced overtime and less stress, the city says.
The fire department is also getting $50,000 for a paid call system for volunteers. There are fewer volunteers now than in past years and that’s placing an additional strain on the city’s paid firefighters.
There is one piece of good news in the budget documents and that’s the projected $100,000 in additional revenue from new construction that will be on the tax rolls as of 2024.
But that is being more than offset by the loss of $142,500 from the Skeena Industrial Development Park property. That property was sold to a Burnaby firm called Taisheng International Developments in 2014 and was just re-acquired by a joint venture of the City of Terrace and Kitselas First Nation.
Part of the deal required Taisheng to build roads and install water and sewer by specified dates. It did not meet those dates, which triggered a buy-back clause in the contract the partners just exercised last week.
The effect of returning the lands to city ownership means it can no longer be taxed. A $142,500 tax increase is meant to compensate for the loss.
The largest portion of the tax hike at $391,891 is to cover wage increases for city employees belonging to the Canadian Union of Public Employees while unionized firefighters are getting a boost of $200,565.
Increases for managers and other non-unionized staffers amount to $72,991.
The city has now opened its 2024 budget document for public comment either online or on paper until Dec. 22. In-person comments can be made at the city council meeting on Jan. 8, 2024.