Referendum on Funding Shuswap Watershed Council

Kicker Drone photo September 2023

By Jo Anne Malpass

A new General Voting Day for the Shuswap Watershed Council referendum has been set for Saturday, February 3, 2024. The Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) referendum was previously set for August 26, 2023 but postponed because of the Bush Creek East Wildfire. In September, the CSRD passed a bylaw extending the funding to December 31, 2024.

Residents of the North Shuswap Area F, will be able to vote in person Feb. 3, from 8 am to 8 pm at all polling locations including Lakeview Centre in Anglemont and Blind Bay Hall in Blind Bay. There will also be the opportunity to vote my mail but details had not been announced at Kicker print time.

This referendum is being conducted regarding the proposed continuation of funding for the activities of the Shuswap Watershed Council. Only electors of Electoral Areas C, D, E, F, and G and the District of Sicamous can vote in this referendum because they are the only areas where taxpayers will be contributing to the service. If the referendum authorizes the service, the new bylaw will provide ongoing funding to the SWC without an expiry date.

All previously cast ballots were securely stored and remain in their sealed ballot boxes or secrecy envelopes (mail ballots) until the end of the General Voting Day on February 3. Voters who already cast ballots by mail or advance polls are not permitted to vote again.

The question being asked is “Are you in favour of the Columbia Shuswap Regional District adopting the Shuswap Watershed Council Service Establishment Bylaw No. 5864, 2023 to establish with Electoral C, D, E, F, G and the District of Sicamous, a service for the purpose of obtaining, coordinating and analyzing water quality monitoring data; protecting and improving water quality; and, promoting recreational water safety within the area and to authorize a maximum annual taxation of $180,000 or $0.0167/$1,000 of net taxable value of land and improvements, whichever is greater?”

The CSRD website explains, “The Board has not yet determined if the collection of taxes will be by way of parcel taxes or ad valorem taxes (property value of land and improvements). If a parcel tax bylaw is adopted for the collection of taxes, the amount per property is estimated to be $9.55 per year.

If the taxes are collected by property value (ad valorem), the estimated amount per residential property would be $1.76 per $100,000 of assessed value, or approximately $9.74 per average residential property valued at $553,427.

For more information as it becomes available, go to https://www.csrd.bc.ca/543/Shuswap-Watershed-Council-Referendum