The Regional District of Nanaimo preliminary budget for 2019 reflects increases in the total tax requisitions in the four electoral areas in District 69.
Residents in Area E (Nanoose Bay), F (Coombs, Hilliers, Errington), G (French Creek, Dashwood, Englishman River) and H (Shaw Hill, Qualicum Bay, Deep Bay, Bowser) would see their property taxes go up next year.
The proposed budget shows Area G followed by Area F would have the highest contribution to the RDN’s general services property taxes next year as the total requisition for both communities are estimated to go up by an average of 10 per cent.
For Area G, the amount would rise to $3,032,046 from $2,744,239 and for Area F it is $2,400,824 from $2,120,766. That would mean property owners, based on average residential value, could see their taxes go up to $65 and $57, respectively.
The RDN board of directors reviewed the 2019 proposed budget at a special committee of the whole meeting on Dec. 4 and recommended it for approval at the board next meeting on Jan. 22.
The factors impacting service area budgets include the the board approved operational plan; legislated wastewater, solid wast and water service standards; increase demand from community for services such as recreation and parks, as well as the general economy of the area.
An important next step in the budget process is to encourage residents to share their thoughts on the proposed budget and how they would like to be engaged on the RDN budget in the future.
They can get involved, ask questions and share input by visiting and registering at www.getinvolved.rdn.ca/rdn-budget-talks. This two-way communication tool encourages residents to learn more about the past and proposed budgets and ask their questions and receive answers from our finance department.
All questions and answers will be displayed on the home page of this project to show transparency and for others to learn more about the budget process.
Residents can viewing a high level summary of the proposed budget and preliminary property tax information for their respective area or municipality by visiting the background documents online at the RDN Budget Talks project page.
The RDN plans to use the results of the survey on future budgets. The survey is open through Dec. 31.
The full 2019-2023 financial plan will be presented at future meetings in February 2019.