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THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019
BIG LITTLE LIONS
VOL. 45, NO. 13
BIUndercurrent
Testing the Trust Me moniker with one of Shari’s favourites
BowUndercurrent www.bowenislandundercurrent.com
PAGE 15
Property tax up 6.7 per cent A BREAKDOWN OF BOWEN ISLAND’S 2019 BUDGET
BRONWYN BEAIRSTO
Editor
FROM ONE FAMILY TO ANOTHER:
BRONWYN BEAIRSTO, PHOTO
Artisan Eats will change hands mid-April as the Snug crew (Will Hayes [left], Joan Hayes [middle right] and Ai Kanezaki [right]) takeover the cafe Julie Cree (in blue), Christophe Langlois and Michael Lecourt (latter two not pictured) started a decade ago. For now, hours will stay the same and Michael will still be the cafe’s own French baker. Read Julie, Christophe and Michael’s goodbye letter on page 5.
Council passed first, second and third readings of Bowen’s $16.8 million 2019 budget (in BIM-speak the five year financial plan) Monday evening. The budget proposes a property tax increase of 6.7 per cent. This is lower than last year’s 8.1 per cent increase. This means that for the average Bowen home of just over a million dollars, property taxes will go up by about $150. Of the tax increase, 5.2 per cent is for municipal operations while 1.5 per cent is for infrastructure reserves (capital expenses). The reserve amount rose at the same rate as last year (1.5 per cent) while the municipal operations went down (from 6.6 per cent last year). The budget booklet says that the tax increase has several culprits. For one thing, debt servicing –the $2 million debt from the Community Lands purchase is going from temporary to long-term debt, which means the 2018 cost doubles. As well, staff cost-of-living raises and changes in contracts for rent, insurance, information technology and more added to the increase. The budget also notes that the steady 1.5 per cent asset reserve rise is municipal policy, so that the muni may have the money to fix and build infrastructure. This rate of increase could change in coming years, once the municipality completes an asset management study, outlining infrastructure needs over coming decades. Included in the five-year plan is projected spending for major projects over the next few years, including the fire hall, community centre and Cove Bay water treatment plant. Chief financial officer Raj Hayre said at the council meeting that the heavy spending on infrastructure tapers out by 2022-23. There will also be a $126 garbage and waste tax increase, which the report says is due to transportation costs, tipping fees and more organic waste and recycling coming through the system. This raises the flat-rate tax to $426. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
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