Erin Hitchcock - Williams Lake Tribune Published: February 12, 2009
City council, in a unanimous vote, decided not to raise this year’s water rates as originally planned due to the financial burden likely to be caused from the economic crunch. Council members deliberated the idea at last week’s committee of the whole meeting after hearing the news that Tolko Industries was shutting down all three of its Williams Lake mills for an indefinite period of time. Council, with no further discussion, officially decided at Tuesday night’s city council meeting not to raise the rate. At last week’s committee of the whole meeting, council members considered increasing the water rate by 25 per cent, as recommended by staff in order to keep the system sustainable.But due to Tolko’s recent announcement that would affect about 600 of its employees at its Creekside, Lakeview Lumber, and Soda Creek operations in Williams Lake, as well as a number of indirect jobs, council voted in favour of a zero-rate increase.
An additional 25 per cent increase this year would equate to about $483,000 for 2009. To make up the funds, City staff will look at proposed capital projects to cut back on for this year. Following recommendations from an ND Lea Inc. report that was completed in 2007, the City increased water and sewer rates by 50 per cent in 2008, with plans to increase them by another 50 per cent in 2009, in order to keep the water system sustainable. But due to a poor economic environment in Williams Lake, another 50 per cent increase was thought to be a burden on residents and businesses, so staff proposed there to be only a 25 per cent rate increase to water and a zero per cent increase to sewer. That would mean residences would pay an extra $56.85 for water this year on top of the $227.40 residences paid in 2008. Deputy Mayor Surinderpal Rathor, who has worked at Tolko for 34 years, made the motion at the committee of the whole meeting for there to be no increase. “I have a hell of a time digesting any increase,” Rathor said last week. “Out of the five big mills, three are shutting down. Nobody knows what is going to happen … . There’s no way I can support even a single penny of tax increases. It doesn’t matter what shape or form it comes in.” Coun. Tom Barr said if there is no increase this year, there would need to be a 50 per cent increase for both water and sewer next year instead.
Darcy Lazzarin, general manager of financial services, said if there is no increase this year, the City would need to cut back on capital expenditures. Barr said the budget would need to be looked at again in order to decide what capital projects should be cut in order to keep the water rate the same as last year. At the committee meeting last week, Coun. Geoff Bourdon voted against there being a zero per cent increase and had said the water system may be OK now, but sooner or later it’s going to need to be addressed. “If we get to a point where we’re having to make a harder decision than now, where are we going to be coming out of this downturn?” Bourdon asked. “We know where we are going in, but where are we going to be coming out?” But at Tuesday’s meeting, Bourdon voted in favour of the zero per cent increase. He told the Tribune Wednesday that he still doesn’t agree with a zero per cent increase, but voted in favour of it Tuesday since the matter was already fully discussed at the committee of the whole meeting. “We had already gone through the discussion,” Bourdon said.“It was something we had already passed through and had done quite a bit of discussion on in the committee of the whole.“That’s one of many taxation choices we’re going to have to make.”
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