Michael Brydon's blog

The 2012 RDOS budget has passed first reading and is being circulated around the member municipalities for comment.

A useful breakdown of tax requisition by jurisdiction can be found here.

There were some big changes in the budget this year.  Most notably, there were changes to the way in which overhead costs of the RDOS as a whole are allocated to the member municipalities and rural members.  In the past, all overhead costs were allocated on the basis of total assessed value.  This may have made sense when the RDOS provided many services for its member municipalities and relatively few services to rural unincorporated areas such as Area 'F'.  But over the years the municipalities (Penticton in particular) has moved many services (e.g., planning) "in house" and the services demanded by rural residents have steadily increased.  Thus, in 2011, City of Penticton paid about 40% of the RDOS overhead cost even though it used relatively few RDOS services (and paid relatively little of the overall RDOS tax assessment--less than 13%--as a result).

I received a question a few days ago about Penticton's contribution to the RDOS.  The issue of Penticton pulling out of the RDOS has recently appeard on Dan Albas's blog with some questions about what Penticton gets from the RDOS. 

The following letter to the editor appeared in the October 5th edition of the Penticton Herald (link to letter):

RDOS cuts questioned

Dear Editor:
I spend about a month every year in Penticton.
I‘ve attended many events such as the beer festival, the Meadowlark Festival and the Saturday morning Farmers‘ Market. I‘ve watched the Ironman, I‘ve checked out the local wineries, I‘ve cycled the Kettle Valley Railway, I‘ve listened to Elvis (apparently he‘s still alive and kicking in Penticton), and I‘ve been to Peachfest.
I love Penticton - the orchards, the vineyards, the lakes and the clean air. In fact, I want to move to Penticton when I retire. That‘s why I was discouraged last week to read in the Sept. 21 article the RDOS axed seven jobs to save $470,000. The included eliminating the air quality co-ordinator and environmental planner.

The following letter was published in the Summerland Review (link to letter)
Published: August 11, 2010

Dear Editor:

Having chosen to live in various rural regions of B.C., I believed it was the responsibility of homeowners to provide their own water, either hand dig a well, have it extensively drilled or personally transport their water.

While living in Meadow Valley, I had to both filter and boil the drinking water. Never once did I think that others miles away should fill our water needs.

As noted in a previous posting, there was a bit of a mix-up with property taxes in Area F in 2009.  The RDOS does not collect its own property taxes.  Instead, the RDOS sends a requisition to the Surveyor of Taxes (part of the Provincial government), they collect the money for local property taxes plus school taxes, etc., take a cut, and send the RDOS the requested amount.

Taxes in 2009 seemed a bit wonky; however, upon double-checking, RDOS financial staff confirmed that we requisitioned the correct amount of money from the Surveyor of Taxes and received the correct amount of money in return.  So tracking down the problem was difficult.  RDOS staff finally figured it out, however.  Below is an (edited) explanation from the Province.  Bottom line:

• Rural Penticton residents are going to pay less tax in 2010 because they overpayed in 2009
• Rural Summerland residents are going to pay more tax in 2010 because they did not pay any RDOS tax in 2009

I recieved the following question recently from a concerned resident:

What is your position on the surcharging of children involved in sports when using Penticton facilities?  I understand that my children will now be subjected to a user fee to engage in Penticton Minor Hockey.  Are we not trying to encourage families to engage in healthy lifestyles with active bodies?  This measure seems to speak against the value of involvement in physical activity.  Children who live outside of the Penticton tax zone will be penalized and many will not engage as a result of being priced out of participating. This is a major step in the wrong direction.  Many families on the West Bench and outlying areas are having their ability to cover costs stretched far too far. This is another of those situations.

Background on the City of Penticton's two-tier scheme can be found here.