MAKING SENSE of the DOLLARS & CENTS FINANCIAL PLAN CONSULTATION

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The RDEK’s Draft Five Year Financial Plan is open for public comment.

Copies of the 5-Year Financial Plan and comment forms are available at engage.rdek.bc.ca/budget or can be mailed to you by calling 1-888-478-7335

The total cost of phase two work is $3.3 million. The district paid for it through a combination of its own reserves and borrowing. The borrowing totalled $1.5 million, and the new parcel tax will be used to pay back that debt.

“We’d reached the point where where (the sewer and water system) was operating under surcharge — that is pressure — rather than gravity, as it is supposed to,” Invermere chief administrative officer, Andrew Young, explained at the meeting, adding that as a result, sewage backup into houses was a very real threat.

“It’s getting attention right now, but $50 a year — that’s a bit more than $4 a month — is not a lot to pay in order to not having sewage backing up into homes,” said Invermere councillor, Gerry Taft. He added that district had done a great job on the financial side, using reserves, so that only $1.5 million needed to be borrowed. Taft also pointed out that Invermere had used an alternative approval process before borrowing the $1.5 million, and only 0.3 per cent of residents expressed opposition to the move.

Young outlined that although “a lot of attention has been laser-focused on 13th Avenue, some of the problems there are shared with 10th Avenue”. He hastened to add that “the situation on 10th Avenue is much less alarming that 13th was.”

Once the upgrades on 13th Avenue are complete, there will no longer be a connection between 13th and 10th Avenue, Young continued. “Tenth Avenue will then be within normal operating conditions rather than a surcharge. That will be a huge improvement, not only on 13th Avenue, but also on 10th Avenue.”

Acting mayor, Kayja Becker, noted that the cost of the parcel tax is minimal compared with the potential cost of fixing the damages that could occur if the upgrades were not done.

Becker was impressed with the interest in the topic among the gallery, noting that “we normally say sewer is not sexy, but here we are talking for 30 minutes.”