City of Powell River Council went through 93 line items looking for savings for taxpayers.
At a special council meeting on January 23, councillors examined 49 items for operational cost savings and revenue increasing options, and 44 items for prioritization of special projects. Council deliberated on these items for more than five hours.
Mayor Ron Woznow explained that with the operational cost savings and revenue increasing options, there were 49 items to be discussed, which were items already in the financial plan.
“This is the way that council is going to move forward and provide staff some additional information, so that when they produce the next budget draft, they will have incorporated the results of our meeting here today,” said Woznow. “Bear in mind that it will be the second draft, not the final.”
Chief financial officer Mallory Denniston said council made a request to staff in August 2023 to turn over every stone and look at cost savings opportunities or opportunities to increase revenues.
“Staff are continuously implementing improvements but there are things relating to service levels that can reduce the property taxes,” said Denniston. “Staff have poured in a lot of work on this file.
“If council needs more information or more time, this is a living document and budgeting is something that is ongoing.”
Denniston said the plan before council was showing close to $600,000 in decreases to property taxes in 2024, growing to more than $2.1 million in each of the successive four years. If all cuts were made in 2024, there would be a six per cent tax increase instead of a nine per cent increase, which is currently on the books. Denniston said if all cuts were made, it would be a one per cent increase instead of eight per cent in 2025.
“We’ll take feedback on these ideas and they will be implemented in draft two of the budget,” said Denniston. “You would be able to see the total impact on the property tax.”
Denniston said $230,000 is about a one per cent property tax shift right now.
Councillor Cindy Elliott said she wanted to acknowledge the great deal of work that went into producing the line items council would be considering.
When councillors voted on various initiatives put before them, they were voting on whether or not to include them in draft two of the city’s five-year financial plan, or to defer them to 2025. Final adoption of the city’s five-year financial plan has to take place before May 15.
With regard to council attendance at conventions, the amount budgeted was $87,000 for 2024, but only about $60,000 of the $75,000 budgeted was expended in 2023. Council voted to roll back council attendance at conventions to $75,000 for 2024.
Another recommendation is having only one cashier during property tax season rather than two. The recommendation for computer replacement is every six years instead of five.
Powell River Power Development Corporation, which the city has held onto in case the city needs to set up another corporation, was recommended for dissolving, saving annual accounting and legal fees of about $2,500 annually.
Closure of the Wildwood fire hall was also discussed. The recommendation was to include this item in the next budget draft so council is recommending that the fire hall be closed.
One of the larger financial items was the Zunga Bus. The cost of operating the on-demand transit service is more than $220,000 per year. Council voted to take no further action on the matter, which is in the 2024 financial plan, so the recommendation, if eventually passed, would be that the Zunga Bus service continue to operate in 2024.
There were fee recommendations, for increases in parking fines, increases in departure fees for the airport and water drome on Powell Lake, plus increases in parking fees for Mowat Bay and the north harbour. The increases were recommended to remain in the budget.
Closure of Powell River Public Library on Sundays was discussed. Council carried a motion that no further action be taken, meaning that the intention of council is for the library to remain open on Sundays. The savings in 2024 would be $15,375, and more than $31,000 in years 2025 and beyond.
The vacant social planner position was also on the list. Council decided to take no further action, meaning that the intention would be to hire another social planner. The position is shared with qathet Regional District and Tla’amin Nation, with the city’s contribution about $85,000 in 2025.
The matter of decreasing permissive tax exemptions was under review, with council voting to defer the decision until the next budgetary cycle. Council also voted to defer decreasing its grants-in-aid.
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