File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Michael Reeve

UTILITY RATES

‘Sober second thought’; Bass swings vote to reconsider utility rate hike

Nov 9, 2023 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — At the final council meeting in October, Kamloops council narrowly voted in favour of a water amendment bylaw that would see a 25 per cent rate increase in 2024. Due to the 5-4 vote split, it took only one vote in favour, Dale Bass, or a reconsideration motion to be successful on Tuesday (Nov. 7).

“I would like to see it spread out if they can do it. If they can’t, well, at least we tried,” Bass told CFJC News. “I know the money is needed, we have things we need to plan for. We did make a bold decision with the assist for development and this is a consequence. But just take one more look to see what you can do.”

Bass is referring to the added percentage needed for the approved temporary pump for the Noble Creek Irrigation System (NCIS) that resulted in an additional rate increase above the 25 per cent that led her to consider. That system is also responsible for a large chunk of the original increase.

“What happened over the past year, though, is we had the $3.2 million decommissioning payments that nobody expected. Obviously, the erosion led to that,” said City of Kamloops Utilities Manager Greg Wightman. “And then we had council’s decision to support development and increase the assist factor on DCC (Development Cost Charge) projects. The DCC decision was a 10 per cent rate increase. The Noble Creek decommissioning payments was about a 15 per cent rate increase.”

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Wightman noted staff are reviewing the options for deferring the increase but stressed the money is needed, regardless of if it’s today or next year.

“One of the challenges we have with this 25 per cent is that everything that generated it is needed now. This isn’t, ‘We realize there is a project we have got to do three, four years down the road.’ This is now. What we are really trying to do is get the reserve that has been depleted back up to a manageable level, where we are comfortable for the kind of rainy day fund, the emergency fund,” said Wightman.

A sober second thought is what helped Bass decide to review the increase, noting residents in Kamloops will struggle with the massive price hike after years of 1 or even 0 per cent increases.

“I know they have looked at other options. They brought forward what they believed was best for the city, but it may not have been best for the residents of the city. They will come back at the next meeting and I know they are working to try to find something — maybe we layer it over several years. I don’t know. But it’s like a sober second thought,” said Bass.

The original increase would have seen an average Kamloops property pay $383 for the water utility in 2023 to $478 in 2024. Staff will return to council with options on November 21.