NORD passes budget

by Kate Bouey - CASTANET Mar 23, 2016 / 7:00 pm
It wasn't without some controversy, but the North Okanagan Regional District's 2016 budget has been approved by the board of directors. The consolidated financial plan is $63.6 million, down $1.6 million from last year. Approximately two-thirds of the money, $43.2 million, is for operating costs while $20.4 million is for capital costs. For taxpayers, the overall increase is approximately 1.2 percent, says Stephen Banmen, NORD's financial manager. However “the impact will be variable depending on which jurisdiction you live in,” he adds. “Some will see it go up and some will go down depending on what services their community is on.” Banmen says the increase is lower than inflation and probably the same as growth with the region. Half of the directors voted against passage of the budget due to an amendment that took $100,000 out of operating reserves to cover budget costs and, if it had not been for a weighted vote, the financial plan could have failed. Those opposed included directors Kevin Acton, Shirley Fowler, Greg McCune, Mike Macnabb, Christine Fraser, Denis Delisle, and chair Rick Fairbairn. But Vernon and Coldstream directors carried the day. Director Catherine Lord had proposed the amendment. “The reserve is sitting at $1.7 million and I don't like having reserves unless there are specific uses for the reserve,” says Lord. “We're looking at a large amount without any specific indication of what it is going to be used for.” Fowler says her no vote was down to the fact there had never been a discussion about the reserves at the district board and she would have liked to have made an informed decision.