GVAC supports water rate increase of 2.4 per cent

Jan 16, 2023 | 5:00 AM

The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee is supporting a proposed water rate hike.

GVAC received the proposed 2023 Greater Vernon Water (GVW) budget at a special meeting Wednesday, Jan. 11.

“So for 2023, the scheduled increase for residential and industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) water users, is scheduled to go up by 2.4 per cent,” Bob Fleming, Area B Director and GVAC Chair, told Vernon Matters.

The increase is part of a four year plan that began in 2021 with an increase of 1.9 per cent. In 2022, the rate also rose 2.4 per cent and it is scheduled for a hike of 2.9 per cent in 2024.

“The thing with water is it’s kind of a good news story in that, despite some significant increases which have affected many projects in terms of operating, Greater Vernon Water still has operated without serious inflation factors,” said Fleming.

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“A 2.4 per cent increase this year is almost 5 per cent under inflation, so if you look at it from a point of view of the value of money, the tax payer is actually gaining, not losing.”

The plan also proposed an agriculture allocation water fee hike of 5.4 per cent.

The proposed budget for GVW was set at $44,059,800 in 2023, which included an operating budget of $18,130,601 and a capital budget of $25,929,199.

In 2022, GVW’s budget was $41,6060,935 with an operating budget of $18,231,995 and a capital budget of $23,374,940.

Preliminary work on a big GVW project is also expected to be undertaken this year.

“That’s the addition of filtration at the Kalamalka Lake water source at the Mission Hill Water Treatment site,” Fleming told Vernon Matters.

“That won’t be built starting in 2023, but it is expected to be planned and engineered in 2023, and we received a $30-million grant from the infrastructure program from the federal and provincial governments [for the project].”

Fleming noted the entire project was originally estimated to cost $42-million, with the grant covering approximately two thirds of the total.

However, that figure could increase, as was the case with other local projects that struggled with supply chain and skilled worker issues.

“What that will mean is the grant doesn’t go up. If it costs $45-million instead of $42-million, or whatever the number is, then the money will come from the source, from us through reserves,” said Fleming.

“That’s a planned expense that’s covered by reserves. That’s money that’s been accumulated already in the service to support these programs. So it won’t change the rates, in other words”

After receiving the report, GVAC endorsed the budget in principle. It will be discussed further and finalized at a future meeting.

by Liam Verster

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