Regional District of North Okanagan ( photo / Vernon Matters)

By Kevin Rothwell

Tax base growth covers budget increase

Regional tax bite drops by nearly one per cent

Mar 18, 2021 | 3:35 PM

The North Okanagan Regional District (RDNO) has approved a 2021 budget of $91.4 million, an increase of $1.3 million, or 1.4 per cent, from 2020.

The 2021 operating budget is $50.4 million, down $4-million from last year while the 2021 capital budget is $41.0 million, an increase of $5.3 million from 2020.

The 2021 tax requisition is $19.2 million which amounts to a $100,000 increase over last year.

Growth in the tax base within the RDNO due to new construction and development is estimated at 1.4 per cent which will raise approximately $267,000 That will result in the average property in the North Okanagan experiencing a tax decrease of approximately 0.8 per cent.

The RDNO does note that the average tax impact is highly variable.

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An individual property’s tax increase or decrease due to budget impacts and changes within the RDNO’s services will depend on the following:

• the municipality or electoral area where the property is located, in combination with the regional district services that the particular municipality or electoral area participates in;

• the property’s change in assessed value relative to the average assessment change for the particular municipality or electoral area; and

• any regional district local area services that the property is located within.

The RDNO is comprised of six member municipalities and five electoral areas. It covers an area of 787,190 hectares with an estimated population of over 90,000.

B.C.’s 28 regional districts provide over $541 million in services. Regional districts account for about 14 cents of each dollar spent by local government in British Columbia. Environmental services, water and recreational services are the largest expenditures.