Cowichan Valley Regional District

M.N.C. Councillor Kate Marsh Advocating New Taxes For A New Staff Position For Climate Change

Posted on February 26, 2019 by admin

On 22 February 2019 the Cowichan Valley Citizen reported that Municipality of North Cowichan Councillor Kate Marsh is advocating new municipal taxes to fund a new Municipality of North Cowichan staff position to “specialize in climate change and environmental issues…”

Here is a link to the Cowichan Valley Citizen article of 22 February 2019.

In the words of the Cowichan Valley Citizen, “At the municipality’s council meeting on Feb. 20, Coun. Kate Marsh made a motion for staff to prepare a report on the logistics of hiring a person to specialize in climate change and environmental issues in North Cowichan.”

Municipality of North Cowichan Councillor Kate Marsh, 2019 (photo: Cowichan Valley Citizen)

This motion will be debated at a future meeting of Municipality of North Cowichan Council.

We are concerned about the taxation implications of this motion. As reported in the Cowichan Valley Citizen,

“As part of its budget building process for 2019, North Cowichan is already considering hiring five new staff members, at a cost of approximately $505,000 annually, this year as it moves forward with plans to modernize operations in the coming months.

At a budget meeting earlier this month, staff suggested that with the recommendations for the new staff members, as well as other budgetary issues in 2019, municipal taxes could rise by four per cent, or even as high as seven per cent, in 2019 for the municipality’s property owners.

But Mayor Al Siebring cautioned that the municipality is far from finalizing its budget for the year, which it must do by May 15, and more discussions are planned.

“With adjustments, I expect that the tax increase this year could be in the three per cent range,” he said.”

Councillor Kate Marsh also represents the Municipality of North Cowichan on the Cowichan Valley Regional District Board, where, in 2018, she strongly supported the creation of two new taxes on all homeowners within the CVRD through Bylaws 4201 and 4202. Councillor Kate Marsh has a history of supporting new taxes and higher taxation rates.

At DuncanTaxpayers.ca we are very glad that Duncan residents rejected Amalgamation with the Municipality of North Cowichan in June 2018. Our Duncan taxes would have definitely increased under the Municipality of North Cowichan Council, especially with Councillors sympathetic to Kate Marsh’s views having a majority on the current M.N.C. Council.

Here is commentary from Don Swiatlowski, a retired accountant who is a Municipality of North Cowichan resident:

“Councillor Marsh wants to hire an Environmental Manager.

Is Councillor Marsh demonstrating her arbitrary, and high-handed contempt for the taxpayers of North Cowichan (MNC) as she pursues her ideological hobby of climate change at taxpayer expense?

Some examples include:

First, she initiated an environmental property tax, a tax that I think only MNC levies on its citizens and exists nowhere else in all of BC.

Secondly, she created a bank of sorts, to loan out the environmental tax to MNC’s departments; that in effect doubles the tax on property taxpayers, because the MNC departments have to budget the repayment of the loan to the bank, thus artificially inflating municipal costs, that were funded in the first place, with your property taxes and now have to be repaid by the municipal department with yet higher taxes.

Now, she is proposing to declare a climate emergency because the Capital Regional District (CRA) did. We all share the world’s atmosphere. What impact will MNC’s declaration of an emergency have on the world? I know it is going to cause our property taxes to rise for no benefit to us. How bizarre is that?

It appears that her rational for this hiring is to save the world. So, in true Trumpian style, she wants to declare a bogus state of climate emergency in MNC, when the real culprits of increased CO2 are China and India burning all of that coal to generate electricity and all that livestock spewing green house gases into the environment and all of those new folks added to the world’s population. Anything Ms. Marsh does will be less than the equivalent of a spec of dust in the environment. Yet at MNC’s level, this translates into a rise in our property taxes that will produce zero effect on the global atmosphere. No benefit for the taxes here.

Recently, MNC hired a consultant to look at staffing. The consultant did not recommend the hiring of an environmental manager. [note: emphasis added]

Kate Marsh also wants staff to prepare a report on climate emergency; this request was made right after she stated many reports already exist on the matter; so she is just wasting valuable staff time. Ms. Marsh is out of touch with management of this town and it is resulting in wasteful spending of our property taxes.

Councillor Christopher Justice thinks that funding for this proposed new staff position may be available from other levels of government. Well, if it is, it will only be short term or project related and once that funding dries up, the local taxpayers will have to eat that in higher property taxes. Bad decision.

Duncanites should be glad they turned down amalgamation with MNC [note: DuncanTaxpayers.ca totally agrees with on this statement on Amalgamation. Fighting Amalgamation in 2018 why the reason this website was started in the first place.].”

We will add more commentary on this as Councillor Marsh’s motion makes its way through North Cowichan Council.

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CVRD Releases Proposed Tax Increases For 2019

Posted on February 11, 2019 by admin

The Cowichan Valley Regional District has released a .PDF graphic showing its proposed tax increases for 2019.

Here is a link to the CVRD’s projected tax increases for 2019. [note: PDF. 14 pages]

CVRD logo on the front of the CVRD building on Ingram Street in downtown Duncan (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

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Commentary On Increased CVRD Taxes For 2019

Posted on February 9, 2019February 11, 2019 by admin

At the City of Duncan Council Meeting on 4 February 2019, City of Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples announced that she had spent most of the day at a Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) Budget Meeting. The City of Duncan has one seat on the CVRD Board.

CVRD logo on the front of the CVRD building on Ingram Street in downtown Duncan (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

We know several Cowichan Valley Regional District residents who follow CVRD matters closely and we asked one of them for comment on the CVRD Budget and tax increases for 2019.

Here is that CVRD watcher’s response:

“The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) is in the process of completing its property tax plans for 2019 and the CVRD is planning on a substantial tax increase for homeowners in the City of Duncan. Based on the average assessed value of a home in the City of Duncan, $335,625.00, Duncan homeowners can expect a property tax increase of $32.57 or 7.26 per cent in 2019 compared with 2018. That will bring the average tax paid to the CVRD by an average homeowner in Duncan to $481.29. That does not include the taxes that you will have to pay to the City of Duncan in addition to these CVRD taxes.

The major increases in property tax in 2019, from the CVRD, are due to two new taxes levied on Duncan as a result of the “Affordable Housing Tax“ [CVRD Bylaw 4201 – Cowichan Housing Association Annual Financial Contribution Service Establishment Bylaw, 2018] and the “Water Service Tax” [CVRD Bylaw 4202 – Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Service Establishment Bylaw, 2018] being approved by residents of the CVRD in the referendum questions that appeared on the election ballot in October 2018.

Those taxes are $11.29 and $7.53 respectively. Additionally, the “Solid Waste” levy went up $8.56, with most of the balance of the increase due to rising costs of running the Island Savings Center (ISC). [note: here is a link to the CVRD Island Savings Center Commission]

Currently, the average home in the City of Duncan, annually pays about $200.00 to subsidize the operation of the Island Savings Center, $75.00 to operate the solid waste facility [note: here is a link to PDF of the CVRD Solid Waste Management Plan, revised 24 October 2018 following the Municipal Election on 20 October 2018] and about $40.00 to operate the transit system. The balance of the $481.29 average tax bill is used to acquire park land, pay for CVRD administration, operate regional parks, and now to manage the regions water service and fund the affordable housing plans. “

In short, if you are a City of Duncan homeowner, the taxes you pay to the CVRD will increase significantly in 2019.

Here are the CVRD Bylaws 4201 and 4202 which were passed in the Ballot Referendum on 20 October 2018:

CVRD Bylaw No. 4201 – Service Establishment

“CVRD Bylaw No. 4201 – Cowichan Housing Association Annual Financial Contribution Service Establishment Bylaw, 2018“, will allow the CVRD to annually requisition up to the greater of $765,000 or an amount equal to the amount that could be raised by a property value tax of $0.04584 per $1,000 of net taxable value of land and improvements within the service area to assist the Cowichan Housing Association with costs associated with providing programs and services related to affordable housing and homelessness prevention in the Cowichan Valley.

CVRD Bylaw No. 4202 – Service Establishment

“CVRD Bylaw No. 4202 – Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Service Establishment Bylaw, 2018“, will allow the CVRD to annually requisition up to the greater of $750,000 or an amount equal to the amount that could be raised by a property value tax of $0.045050 per $1,000 of net taxable value of land and improvements within the service area to establish a service for the purpose of drinking water and watershed protection within the Cowichan Valley Regional District.

Here is a link to the CVRD’s projected tax increases for 2019.

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Cowichan Valley Regional District Bylaw 4201 Passed In A Referendum Vote

Posted on November 16, 2018November 16, 2018 by admin

CVRD logo on the front of the CVRD building on Ingram Street in downtown Duncan (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

The 20 October 2018 Municipal Elections featured two Referendum questions placed on the ballot by the Cowichan Valley Regional District. The two questions asked voters whether they approved CVRD Bylaw 4201 and Bylaw 4202.

Both these Bylaws passed in the Referendum. DuncanTaxpayers.ca was opposed to both both Bylaw 4201 and 4202.

But now that both Bylaw 4201 and 4202 have passed by referendum, we think it is important to monitor developments on both continually. Both Bylaw 4201 and 4202 authorized new CVRD taxes and we believe the use of these taxpayers funds needs to watched very closely.

Here is what CVRD Bylaw 4201 said:

CVRD Bylaw No. 4201 – Service Establishment

“CVRD Bylaw No. 4201 – Cowichan Housing Association Annual Financial Contribution Service Establishment Bylaw, 2018″, will allow the CVRD to annually requisition up to the greater of $765,000 or an amount equal to the amount that could be raised by a property value tax of $0.04584 per $1,000 of net taxable value of land and improvements within the service area to assist the Cowichan Housing Association with costs associated with providing programs and services related to affordable housing and homelessness prevention in the Cowichan Valley.”

Note that amount raised from taxpayers “to assist the Cowichan Housing Association with costs associated with providing programs and services related to affordable housing and homelessness prevention in the Cowichan Valley” can be “up to the greater of $765,000 or an amount equal to the amount that could be raised by a property value tax of $0.04584 per $1,000 of net taxable value of land and improvements…”

So it could be $765,000/year, or it could be more than $765,000/year, paid annually to the Cowichan Housing Association by taxpayers.

Note also that the “programs and services related to affordable housing and homelessness prevention in the Cowichan Valley” are not defined in the Bylaw. This is one of the primary reasons we voted No on this referendum question. We did not deem it prudent to vote Yes without specific details of the program being provided to voters beforehand.

Here is the Cowichan Housing Association Attainable Housing Strategy for 2018-2019. Note that no plans have yet been formulated by the Cowichan Housing Association despite the Cowichan Housing Association now having been given $765,000, or more, per year in taxpayer funding raised by new CVRD taxation.

We will monitoring the CVRD and the Cowichan Housing Association use of these taxpayer funds very closely in the upcoming years. There will be more posts about this in future

CVRD Referendum Questions On The Ballot For 20 October 2018 – I Am Voting No

Posted on September 13, 2018October 19, 2018 by admin

CVRD logo on the front of the CVRD building on Ingram Street in downtown Duncan (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

Mark Anderson, 4 September 2018 (photo: Lexi Bainas, Cowichan Valley Citizen) — Mark Anderson, (photo: Lexi Bainas, Cowichan Valley Citizen)

The upcoming municipal election on 20 October 2018 will also include two questions being put to Referendum by the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD).

These questions are, specifically, whether to pass or reject CVRD Bylaw No. 4201 and/or CVRD Bylaw No. 4202. There will be one Referendum question on each of these two questions.

I will be voting “No” on both these CVRD Referendum questions and my reasons are shown below.

But first, here are the CVRD explanations of these two Referendum questions, as taken directly from the CVRD website. Note that the CVRD is calling this “Assent Voting” as though the CVRD already considers public “assent” to be a foregone conclusion.

CVRD Bylaw No. 4201 – Service Establishment

CVRD Bylaw No. 4202 – Service Establishment

Here is why I am against these two CVRD Referendum questions:

First my reasons for opposing CVRD Bylaw No. 4201 – Cowichan Housing Association Annual Financial Contribution Service Establishment Bylaw, 2018“:

The CVRD Referendum question on housing (CVRD Bylaw No. 4201 – Service Establishment) is about raising $765,000, or possibly more, to give the Cowichan Housing Association for more studies and reports.

I don’t believe Bylaw 4201 will get a single unit of new housing built or get a single unit of new housing in existing structures.

The CVRD justifies this proposed tax, in part, by saying the Cowichan Housing Association will lobby senior levels of government for housing funds. But this can be accomplished for far less money.

One presenter at the CVRD Board meeting on this issue suggested that creating a CVRD staff position on housing issues could be created for far less money, approximately $125,00 as opposed to the $765,000 proposed in Bylaw No. 4201. That proposal made far more sense to me than what is being proposed in this CVRD Referendum question. A CVRD staff position would mean that the occupant of that position would be directly accountable to the CVRD Board, while the Cowichan Housing Association would be a non profit organization outside the CVRD administration.

Handling housing through a CVRD staff position would also mean that any funds collected by this proposed tax would remain on this CVRD books and under CVRD control. Turning these funds over the Cowichan Housing Association, as stated in the proposed Bylaw 4201, means the taxpayer funds collected are off the CVRD books and under the control of an non-profit organization outside the CVRD.

And lobbying the provincial government on housing could be accomplished by simply picking up a phone and calling our local M.L.A., Sonya Furstenau, who has the ear of government and who is very interested in housing issues. Lobbying the federal government could be done through our local M.P., Alistair MacGregor, who is also very interested in housing issues.

It would cost the CVRD nothing to pick up a phone to contact our local M.P. or M.L.A.

A common argument made in favour of Bylaw 4201 is that the CVRD needs to have a Housing Trust Fund similar to those maintained by other municipalities, such as the City of Victoria.

So I see no need for a new CVRD tax to raise $765,000 to simply give to the Cowichan Housing Association to create more studies and reports or to lobby the federal or provincial governments.

Apart from that, the CVRD is referring to this proposed new tax as a “financial contribution service.” Never trust any politician or bureaucrat who refers to proposed new taxes as a “financial contribution service.”

In short, this proposed new tax for housing will just produce more studies and reports; it will not produce any new housing. So I will be voting No on that Referendum question.

Here are some more articles against Bylaw 4201:

Ian Caesar on RichardHughes.ca – We Definitely Need More Critical Thinkers At The CVRD

CVRD Bylaw No. 4202 – Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Service Establishment Bylaw, 2018

Here are my reasons for opposing CVRD Bylaw No. 4202 – Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Service Establishment Bylaw, 2018

The water issue in proposed Bylaw No. 4202 is a bit different than the proposed housing Bylaw No. 4201. The CVRD currently has over 30 small water authorities running the water systems in small areas of the CVRD; Arbutus Ridge and Mill Bay are two examples among many.

A recent consultants’ report (the Innova Report) to the CVRD was quite scathing in its criticism of the current system of water governance in the CVRD.

Here is what the Innova Report had to say about current CVRD water governance:

“1.2. Governance

The current CVRD utility governance model and subdivision approving authorities do not support the
goals and objectives of elected officials, staff, and, most importantly, the utility users. It has become
extremely difficult to effectively manage the expectations of utility users through the current disjointed
model that essentially provides authority and leadership through the Electoral Area Services Committee.
It is also a challenge to manage growth without jurisdiction. There are two recommendations for changes
to governance in the CVRD:

Establish a Utility Commission – There should be strong consideration given to the creation of a commission candidate profile supporting professional industry experts, not specific community advocates. This would support the long-term goals of amalgamating water and wastewater utilities and ensuring that all new utilities are acceptable to overarching plans and objectives…..”

So the CVRD understandably wants to centralize control of CVRD water systems and resources under a centralized CVRD water governance authority. That actually makes some sense.

But the CVRD is trying to sell this proposed new authority to the public on the idea of combating the effects of climate change and global warming, safeguarding drinking water and protecting the watershed.

The CVRD Referendum question on Bylaw 4202 also proposes to tax the City of Duncan and Municipality of North Cowichan residents for this new water authority as well as CVRD residents. Duncan and the Municipality of North Cowichan already have their own water systems in place and have had those systems in place for decades.

So my reaction to this CVRD Referendum question is, “Why should Duncan and Municipality of North Cowichan residents be taxed by the CVRD to fund a new CVRD water authority for CVRD areas?”

I will be voting No on both the CVRD Referendum questions.

For additional commentary, here is a link to an article about CVRD water issues and Bylaw 4202 in the Cowichan Valley Citizen by CVRD Director Klaus Kuhn.

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Follow Up On Cowichan Valley Citizen Report Of C.V.R.D. Director Breaking Down Door At C.V.R.D. Building

Posted on July 24, 2018July 24, 2018 by admin

On 20 July 2018 the Cowichan Valley Citizen published an article entitled “Cobble Hill Director Breaks Down Door At CVRD Office.”

Here is the text of the Cowichan Valley Citizen story on this incident:

“Cobble Hill director breaks down door at CVRD office

Matteus Clement releases statement on incident

ROBERT BARRON Jul. 20, 2018 1:00 p.m.

An incident in May involving the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s director for Cobble Hill has led to a public statement from the director.

The incident occurred on May 25 when Matteus Clement broke a door while forcing his way into a restricted area of the CVRD offices in Duncan.

Clement said in his statement that he went to the CVRD office after hours to collect a projector and other materials to facilitate a community meeting, but he found the door locked to the area where staff had left it for him.

He said that with an hour left before his meeting, and in his urgency, he shoved the door which broke.

“I immediately called our CAO, Brian Carruthers, to inform him and let him know that I would pay for the repair,” Clement said.

“I am sorry to have broken the door, it was not my intent. CVRD directors used to have access to the building after hours but after a security review a year ago, our CAO restricted the access to directors. The CVRD board is currently re-examining this policy.”

Jon Lefebure, chairman of the CVRD, declined further comment on the issue.

“It was discussed at an in-camera discussion at the CVRD so I’m not able to discuss it any further,” he said.

“The director’s statement will stand on its own.”

Cowichan Valley Citizen, 20 July 2018

This story sounded very odd to us. We have seen the interior doors at the C.V.R.D. building on Ingram Street in downtown Duncan and they appear very solid. It seemed very unlikely to us that these doors would break when “shoved.”

Since the Cowichan Valley Citizen did not publish a follow up to its original 20 July article, we decided to follow up this story ourselves.

On 24 July 2018, we went to the CVRD building to ask whether we could see the door which had “broke” when “shoved” by C.V.R.D. Director Matteus Clement. The damage has been repaired but C.V.R.D. staff pointed out the repaired door, which is in a public area to the left of the Planning and Development desk in the main reception area on the first floor of the C.V.R.D. building.

Here are some photos we took at the C.V.R.D. building on 24 July 2018.

First, Director Matteus Clement would have to gain access to the C.V.R.D. building after hours. Here are the front and rear entrances to the C.V.R.D. building. Both are secured by substantial doors and both have electronic key card access. We are guessing that Director Matteus Clement has, or had, a key card which allowed him to enter through one of these doors on 25 May 2018. The Cowichan Valley Ciitizen story says Directors no longer have access to the building “after hours” so how did Director Clement get into the building “after-hours” through these locked doors?

Front Entrance Door to the C.V.R.D Building on Ingram Street (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

Rear Entrance Door to the C.V.R.D Building on Ingram Street (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

Here are some photos of the interior door which Director Matteus Clement says “broke” after he “shoved” it. This door was identified to us by C.V.R.D. staff as being the one Director Clement damaged and it is located to the left of the Planning & Development counter in the main public reception area on the first floor of the C.V.R.D. building. In the photo below, the door damaged by Director Matteus Clement is on the left. Note that this is a strong and substantial solid door. We doubt that it could be broken by being “shoved” by one person.

The door damaged by Director Matteus Clement in May 2018 is on the left of the photo. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

The photos below show this door from another angle. Note that the door is controlled by a key card security system visible to the left of the door. Did Director Clement not have access to this door on his key card?

Note also the counter to the left of the door. Could C.V.R.D. staff not have left the projector for Director Clement on the counter. It is in a semi-secure area which cannot be accessed unless a person comes through the security controlled doors at the front or rear of the building.

The door damaged by Director Matteus Clement in May 2018 is in the center of this photo. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

The door damaged by Director Matteus Clement in May 2018 is on the right. Could the CVRD not have left the projector on the counter to the left of the door? (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

After seeing this door for ourselves, we have some doubts about Director Matteus Clement’s version of events.

Director Matteus Clement is quoted as saying that “in his urgency, he shoved the door which broke.”

But this is a solid substantial door which separates a public reception area from the C.V.R.D. offices. We doubt this door could be “broken” by being “shoved” by one person.

The door is controlled by a programmable card key security system. Are C.V.R.D. Directors’ key cards programmed to deny them access to this area? If so, why would the C.V.R.D. staff be leaving a projector for Director Clements in a secure area to which he did not have access?

We also note that there is a counter to the left of the door. Could C.V.R.D. staff not simply leave the projector for Director Clements on this counter? To access the counter one has to gain access to the building through substantial exterior doors controlled by programmable key card security systems. So it is not as though the C.V.R.D. staff would be leaving the projector in a public access area where it could be readily stolen.

In short, we have some serious concerns about Director Matteus Clement’s version of the events of 25 May 2018. We think the C.V.R.D. owes taxpayers a far more detailed explanation than it is currently giving.

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