Operating budget sees 3.8% increase

Judie Steeves - Kelowna Capital News Published: November 18, 2010 6:00 PM
It will cost households within the Okanagan Regional Library system an estimated $1.50 more annually for library services next year.  The library’s $15.4 million budget for 2011 was approved at the library board’s meeting in Kelowna on Wednesday.  The total represents a 3.8 per cent increase over this year’s operating budget, including 2.1 per cent for general operations and 1.6 per cent to cover the costs of a mortgage for construction of a new library in Vernon.  A sod-turning for that building was held Monday and the building is slated for completion in the spring of 2012.  City of Kelowna residents pay the largest portion of the budget, a total of $4.7 million, while West Kelowna residents pay $1.1 million and Vernon residents $1.4 million.  ORL executive-director Lesley Dieno said that 2.1 per cent of the increase is partly due to a combination of commitments to union contracts and increases in benefit costs such as premiums for health plans.
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The ORL operates under the authority of a provincial law called the BC Library Act.  As per the BC Library Act, the ORL Board votes on a budget each November to provide library service for the coming year.  Once the budget is approved, the Board distributes the tax cost amongst the municipalities and regional districts according to a formula in Section 24 of the Act.  The formula calls for half of the cost to be shared on the basis of land value and improvements (property assessments), and half the cost to be shared on the basis of population. Cost sharing on the basis of property assessments reflects a community's ability to pay, and cost sharing on the basis of population reflect a community's usage of the library.  When costs are shared out, the ORL sends a bill to each municipality and regional district in the region, and your local Council or District Board then apportions that cost amongst all property owners on the basis of property assessments. Each municipality and regional district has the power to change their own tax apportionment formula.