The North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) is requesting a change to B.C.’s Local Government Act (LGA) that would reduce the cost of borrowing for its water treatment plants.
NSSWD chief administrative officer Mark Boysen sent a letter to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs (MMA) on Dec. 22 asking for an amendment to Section 711 of the LGA that would allow the NSSWD to access provincial lending rates, rather than relying on private bank financing, for a potential savings of $4.5 million.
“With access to provincial lending rates, NSSWD ratepayers would realize savings of nearly $2.5 million in loan interest charges for the Maxwell [water treatment plant],” Boysen states in the letter to Tanja Faganello, assistant deputy minister of the MMA Local Government Division. “If these preferred rates were also applied to our existing financing for the St. Mary Lake plant, there is a potential ratepayer savings of $2 million in additional loan interest charges, resulting in a $4.5 million total savings to our residents.”
At present, only improvement districts that provide fire protection or street lighting are eligible for the preferential interest rates. The NSSWD is requesting that criteria be changed to include “improvement districts that provide essential domestic and emergency water supply to communities.”
Costs for the new Maxwell Lake treatment plant, which the province has mandated NSSWD to build by the end of 2025 due to health issues arising from the current treatment method, have come in at more than $10 million, said Boysen. NSSWD ratepayers have already seen significant tax increases to pay for the St. Mary Lake treatment plant that was completed in 2018.
Trustees considered requesting the LGA change at their Dec. 14 meeting, following a staff report. NSSWD financial officer Tammy Lannan noted the change would shift tax-collection responsibilities from the district to the province, with the implications not yet clear. Despite some unanswered questions, trustees agreed the letter should be sent to Faganello, and especially since they said local MLA Adam Olsen has indicated support for the move.
“I don’t think this is an unreasonable request for the district, and it’s a question of fairness to our ratepayers as well,” said Boysen. “I think we have a really strong point here to make to the province and a benefit for our ratepayers.”
The NSSWD has tried on more than one occasion without success to be granted an exemption from provincial government rules that bar improvement districts of any size from applying for federal-provincial government infrastructure grants.
Also at the Dec. 14 meeting, trustees agreed to provide a commercial water connection for domestic purposes only, that does not exceed one-inch internal diameter, for the new fire hall at 455 Lower Ganges Rd., which makes it an exception to the current water hook-up moratorium. As explained in a letter to the NSSWD from fire district CAO Rodney Dieleman, a domestic well and rainwater capture system will provide supplementary water supply to the facility.
Trustee elections for 2024 were also discussed. NSSWD will again use a combination of mail-in ballots and in-person voting. May 2 is the date set for voting and the annual general meeting.
Also included in the process this year will be an online information session for people interested in trustee positions scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. Trustees and staff agreed that if that opportunity does not arouse much interest then another session could be set up. The additional outreach followed a discussion at a previous meeting where some trustees felt it important for potential candidates to have as much information as possible about the position before declaring their candidacy.