Referendum on Continued Funding Shuswap Watershed Council
By Jo Anne Malpass
A new General Voting Day for the Shuswap Watershed Council funding 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 South Shuswap Areas C and G will be able to vote in person at any CSRD polling station, on Feb. 3, from 8 am to 8 pm, including Blind Bay Hall and White Lake Hall. There is an opportunity to vote by mail, apply for ballot at the CSRD link below.
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 any additional 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, 2024. 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 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, polling stations and mail in ballots, go to https://www.csrd.bc.ca/543/Shuswap-Watershed-Council-Referendum
