As the Township of Esquimalt begins its 2025 budget deliberations, a 14 per cent budget increase is on the table for the coming fiscal year.
At a committee of the whole meeting on Monday, Jan. 20, Esquimalt staff members presented the draft 2025 to 2029 financial plan which Ian Irvine, director of financial services, says is "very driven on service levels."
The core budget is developed to maintain existing service levels, and individual departments aren't budgeting for the worst-case scenario with added contingencies, Irvine said, but will budget for the "most likely scenario," which is often similar, or sometimes less than the previous year's budget.
On top of the core budget, there are supplemental requests, which are new or additional operating items like one-time studies or new staffing additions, which account for about $568,000.
He explained that following a financial sustainability analysis report on levels of funding for reserves, which found that there is an annual $5.5 million gap in infrastructure funding and about $35 million in infrastructure is overdue for replacement.
During the presentation, Irvine outlined a total capital budget of $56 million and an additional $37.2 million for the new public safety building, which is funded by long-term debt and surplus.
The key cost drivers of the budget are police services, with VicPD asking for an over 10 per cent increase from last year; labour costs for wages associated with the union's collective agreement; and long-term infrastructure and reserve contributions.
About 49 per cent of the township's revenue is expected to come from property taxes, with a further 30 per cent coming from payments and grants-in-lieu taxes.
A 14.09 per cent tax increase would cost an extra $467 for the average residential-zoned property in Esquimalt, while the average business-zoned property would see an average $1,923 increase.
"I know we're talking about a significant percentage but it's important to realize the level of service and the number of services the township provides," said Irvine, mentioning the list of services the township pays for, from archives to police services.
"It's important to note that this is considered to be a full-service municipality where all these services are paid for in one bill," he told council.
Over the coming months, council will further discuss and deliberate on the financial plan and tax rates, and the budget is likely to change as discussions continue until a final decision is expected to be reached in May.
