An expansion of the Suncoaster Trail, with a section from Roberts Creek to the Airport, is planned for 2019, with Sechelt planning to invest $250,000 in this project.
There will also be expansions of the bike lane/multi-user trail on Trail Avenue in conjunction with road improvements in 2019. Cycling lanes are also being planned for in conjunction with road projects on Derby (2019) and Tyler Roads (2021).
Increases in property assessments do not mean the District will collect more property tax revenue. The total market increase in assessed property values from 2016 to 2017 is 24.76%. To accommodate this increase in assessed values, the District will reduce the tax rate by 24.76%. If the assessed value of a property increased by the average the tax bill for 2017 will be the same in 2017 as is was in 2016. If the property went up by more than the average, the tax bill will be higher. Conversely, if the increase was less than the average the tax bill will be lower.
Property Tax deferral is a low interest loan program offered by the Provincial Government. The Province pays the municipal portion of the taxes for approved property owners until they sell or transfer the property to another owner, at which time the loan and accrued interest is collected. The Province does not include Property Fees in this program.
The new equipment will be used by the Engineering and other departments and is able to gather millimetre accurate measurements in all three directions. The purpose of the purchase was to allow us to bring all manhole and pipe information to the UTM10 datum, allowing better record keeping and sanitary/storm sewer modeling of these networks. It will also increase the District's capability to complete in house designs for medium sized capital works, by no longer relying on hiring surveying companies for each project.
The laser level purchased within the last two years is stored at the Publics Works yard and is used as required. This is only used to gain a low level elevation transfer, for work such as ground preparation or level transfer for culvert installation.
Staff conducted a more detailed calculation taking into consideration the different proportion of wages and benefits, supplies and contractors and financing costs between the funds and allocating specific costs based on these differing proportions. We found that the amount to be allocated was very similar to the amount calculated simply by allocating all administrative costs based on the respective operating expenses of the funds. Consequently, as there is no significant difference between the results from performing the complex calculation and the simple calculation we have chosen to continue using the simple calculation.