FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. What does
"local government restructuring" mean?
A. Salt Spring is currently a rural status community. Changing from rural status to municipal status is called restructuring. A municipality would have authority for services and community policies that are currently provided by various government levels and agencies.
Q. Who paid for the
study and the consultant? Who will pay for the referendum?
A. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs paid – and continues to pay – for the study, thus the consultant. The ministry will also pay for the referendum to be held on June 22, 2002. If the voters decide that Salt Spring should become a municipality, it would also pay for the interim period following the referendum until the first council is elected and takes over.
Q. What kind of
municipality would Salt Spring be?
A. It would be an "island municipality," a special category of municipality created for communities in the Islands Trust. Among other things, island municipalities must have regard for the Trust Policy Statement and the Trust Object, and all land use bylaws proposed by the municipality must be referred to the Trust for review to ensure this regard is maintained.
Q. What would the
boundary of the municipality be?
A. The boundary would include Salt Spring and the small, largely uninhabited islands in the immediate vicinity.
Q. Are there any
other island municipalities?
A. Bowen Island became the first island municipality in December 1999.
Q. Do we have to
become a municipality?
A. No, this will be up to the voters of Salt Spring in the June 2002 referendum. There are many rural communities in BC, although Salt Spring is the second largest (by population) unincorporated area in BC. Municipal status cannot be imposed on us.
Q. Could Salt Spring
revert back to rural status if residents decide that they don’t wish the
island to continue as a municipality?
A. Yes, this is allowed under the Municipal Act, although it is difficult to do. A decision to create a municipality is better thought of as a permanent decision, not a trial decision.
Q. Will the
government give any assistance to Salt Spring if it becomes a municipality?
A. Yes. The offer negotiated with the government includes a start-up grant of $200 per capita; an agreement whereby the province will provide all roads maintenance for five years following incorporation (note that this does not include any capital costs for road improvements); all policing costs until 2007; an $80,000 grant to help pay for an interim administrator for the new municipality; and the transfer of several smaller Crown parcels. In addition, most municipalities receive an annual unconditional grant from the province, but these have been declining in recent years and their future is not assured. Finally, the municipality would be eligible for planning and infrastructure grants, though these are not assured either.
Q. Would there be a
municipal administration?
A. Yes. There would be an elected council of seven, including six councillors and a mayor, as well as municipal administration staff.
Q. Would the mayor
be allowed more votes than a regular council member?
A. No.
Q. Would the mayor
and the councillors be paid? If so, who would set their pay?
A. The mayor and councillors are paid in virtually all BC municipalities, in much the same way that the Islands Trust trustees and the CRD director are paid. However, municipal council members are generally paid more because they are responsible for more services and policies, and must attend many more meetings. They set their own pay, generally in accordance with pay scales found in similar-sized municipalities. The ranges are $12,000 – $18,000 for the mayor and $5,000 – $9,000 for councillors. In the Restructure Study, cost projections are based on annual salaries of $16,000 for the mayor and $8,200 for each councillor. Some expenses such as ferry costs and car travel would also be covered. The total cost of the council represents about 1.5% of the total municipal spending.
Q. Wouldn’t
becoming a municipality simply mean adding another layer of government?
A. Not quite. The municipal government would indeed be new, but it would replace many of the provincial, CRD, and Island Trust functions that are now provided under the rural system. So while it is true to say that a new level is added, several others are significantly reduced. In addition, the nine improvement districts (like the water districts) – a junior form of local governance with elected trustees – would be dissolved in favour of the municipality, so this layer of government would be removed.
Q. Would the
concurrent seats on the Islands Trust, the CRD, and municipal council lead to
conflicts between the different bodies?
A. Probably, in just the same way as the current mixed system can produce conflicts among the Trust, the CRD, the improvement districts, and the province.
Q. Would
accountability to voters be affected?
A. Yes. The current system of two persons elected to the Islands Trust and another person elected to the CRD would be replaced by seven locally elected council members, two of whom would represent Salt Spring on the Trust Council and one (most likely the mayor) who would represent Salt Spring on the CRD. As the vast majority of decisions regarding the island would be made by the council, accountability would be with island residents elected by other island residents.
Q. Would our
"clout" with other agencies and levels of government change?
A. Yes. Municipalities have more clout and influence than rural communities because they have broader powers to set community policies and because a single municipal council replaces multiple elected bodies under the rural system (separate Islands trust trustees, CRD director, water trustees, fire trustees, etc).
Q. Could voter
assent be required for important policies?
A. A municipality must give residents the opportunity to force a referendum on capital spending (see "taxes" below). However, a municipal council could also choose to expand the use of special votes to help guide their decisions on various issues.
Q. Who would enforce
existing bylaws?
A. Most existing bylaws would be inherited as is by the new municipality. The enforcement of local bylaws would be up to the municipality. A municipality as large as Salt Spring would probably use municipal staff for this (most do).
Q. Could the
municipality proclaim "urban status" for some areas and "rural
status" for others?
A. In essence, yes, though these strict terms might not be used. Rural areas generally have more rural services (fewer sidewalks and street lights, for example). Since decisions about service levels would rest with council, the council could "define" rural areas by setting rural service levels for them. In addition, of course, zoning and subdivision bylaws can explicitly define rural or urban densities.
Q. Would we still be
part of the Islands Trust? And, if so, who would represent Salt Spring on the
Islands Trust Council?
A. Yes, Salt Spring would still be part of the Islands Trust, but the role of the Trust would be reduced. Two members of council, elected by the residents of Salt Spring, would sit on the Trust Council. While responsibility for local zoning and planning would shift from the Trust to the municipality, any changes to the Official Community Plan (OCP) proposed by the municipality would have to be referred to the Trust for approval. However, if the Trust did not approve the changes, the municipality would then be able to ask the Minister of Municipal Affairs for approval. As well, all land use bylaws proposed by the municipality would have to be referred to the Trust for review. For the first three years following incorporation, the Trust staff would continue to provide local planning services and the municipality would continue to pay for them as though it were still a rural area.
Q. What would happen
to the OCP if Salt Spring becomes a municipality?
A. A council would inherit the OCP as it is now, and would be responsible for any future changes – all under the preserve and protect mandate of the Islands Trust. Council could not change the OCP on its own, it would need the approval of either the Trust or the province.
Q. What would happen
to all the existing zoning and land use regulation bylaws?
A. They would be transferred intact to the new municipality, where they would continue in force until or unless changed by the municipality.
Q. How would
planning services for the island operate?
A. For the first three years following incorporation, the municipality would have to buy its planning services from the Trust. After that the municipality could either continue the contract arrangement with the Trust, use its own staff, use consultants, or use a combination of these options.
Q. If council passed
a bylaw that the Islands Trust doesn’t believe meets the Trust mandate and it
went to arbitration, would the arbitration be binding?
A. If arbitration does not help both sides to work it out, the final decision would become the responsibility of the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
Q. Could the mayor
be one of the municipal trustees on the Islands Trust?
A. It is possible for mayorality candidates to run for one of the trustee positions; however, they may choose not to do so because of the increased demand this would make on their time.
Q. Would we still be
part of the Capital Regional District (CRD)?
A. Yes, but only for region-wide services like regional parks, environmental monitoring, and garbage disposal. Salt Spring would still have its own director on the CRD board, but municipal council would appoint one of its own members for this rather than have a separate election as now. (In most municipalities, the mayor serves as CRD director.)
WATER AND SEWER
Q. What would happen
to the existing water improvement districts?
A. The water improvement districts would eventually be dissolved and their assets and liabilities transferred to the municipality. It is possible to require that there be a committee for the districts to advise the municipal council on these services (see below). Each of these water systems would continue to be funded only by the properties it serves. The reserves of each district would be preserved for the benefit of only that district’s members. Private water utilities would remain private companies.
Q. When would the
water improvement districts be dissolved?
A. This will form part of the Letters Patent, which are now being drafted. On Bowen, the fire district was dissolved soon after incorporation, but the water districts were to continue for three years after incorporation.
Q. What would happen
to the assets of the water districts – licences, reserves, property, and so
on?
A. Title would be transferred to the municipality, but with the restriction that the assets could be used only for the benefit of the properties in the original district. In this way, the cash reserves of one district could not be used, for example, to build sidewalks elsewhere in the municipality.
Q. What would happen
to the liabilities of the water districts – debts and payables?
A. They too would be transferred to the new municipality, but again with the restriction that they would remain the responsibility of the properties in the original district.
Q. What would happen
to the tax rates for water?
A. This would be up to the municipal council, which could decide that they were to remain as is, even after a new municipality was created. The province would designate each area a "specified service area" of the municipality, with its own taxes, debts, and assets.
Q. What would happen
to water user fees?
A. This would also be up to the municipal council. User fees could remain more or less as is, but they could also be rolled into a single, consistent fee structure in order to make the municipal billing process easier. It might be appropriate and efficient for the municipality to run one maintenance and operations budget for all the distinct water systems and spread the costs across the combined total base of users. There could also be different fees at first, followed by a single fee structure when the improvement districts are dissolved. All of these decisions would be up to a future council.
Q. Who would pay for
future improvements to the water systems?
A. This would depend on the policy of municipal council and the nature of the improvements. The repairing of existing deficiencies would most likely be paid for by the existing properties, just as it would if municipal restructure did not occur. Expansion of capacity and the servicing of new areas could be financed by development cost charges (that is, paid for by new growth), senior government grants, and new taxes for the new areas – or some combination of these.
Q. Would the water
systems have to be physically joined together?
A. No, it is not uncommon for a municipality to have multiple, separate water systems.
Q. Would there be
grants to help pay for water improvements after restructure?
A. Possibly, but this is not certain. Municipalities are eligible for grants for water and sewer works, whereas improvement districts, which we have now, are not.
Q. What would happen
to the CRD water and sewer systems?
A. These too would be transferred to specified service areas of the new municipality, except for sewage collection, treatment, and disposal, which might remain a CRD service.
Q. What would happen
to people with wells, would they also pay for the debts?
A. If they are not part of an existing improvement district now they would not be liable for existing debts. However, if a water line right past their house is built in the future, then they would probably have to pay taxes for that.
Q. Would sewers have
to be installed?
A. Becoming a municipality would have no impact on sewer needs; health and environmental concerns determine whether sewers are needed. If it is determined that more sewers are needed in the future, it would not be because of restructuring.
Q. Would compensation have to be paid to the water districts when they wee transferred to the municipality?
A. The assets of water districts would be transferred to the municipality without a payment to the water districts, but the province would require that these assets be protected for the benefit of the properties that owned the assets before municipal incorporation.
Q. What would happen
to the employees and trustees of the improvement districts?
A. The trustee positions would end only when the improvement district were dissolved and transferred to the municipality, as would the positions of the employees. It is common for the province to require the municipality to appoint advisory committees for the old water districts, and these advisory boards are often made up of the former trustees. The purpose of these committees is to advise municipal council on water services, employees, and policies. Any decisions to retain improvement district employees as municipal employees would be up to municipal council.
Q. Who
would pay for upgrading in an improvement district if we become a municipality?
A. Traditionally, if it is a local area need, only properties in the area pay. If the improvement is of benefit to two or more areas, properties of both areas pay. Only rarely would payment be island-wide.
Q. Who would set the
standard of what would be needed to upgrade a system?
A. This would be up to municipal council, though there would be advisory input from the improvement districts for at least a transitional period following dissolution e of the improvement districts. (Standards are now set by the individual improvement districts.)
Q. If water
districts would be dissolved anyway, why not combine them to give everyone the
same service with a standardized fee? What about debts and service charges?
A. Eventually, there would probably be a single user fee, but some future council would have to make that decision. The tax system is generally used for capital expenditures. The existing water systems have already created reserves, and as they pay off debts and use their reserves, amalgamation may take place. That does not mean that the systems will necessarily be physically linked.
Q. How
would improvement districts pay off their debts?
A. The same way they do now: through taxes and tolls.
Q. Would there be
new property taxes?
A. Yes, there would be a new municipal property tax, but taxes for the CRD and Islands Trust would fall significantly, and provincial rural property taxes would no longer apply.
Q. Could we have
different service levels and taxes for different areas?
A. There can be different tax areas and different service areas. Water and sewer systems are – and would continue to be, in a municipality – paid for by the benefiting properties, not by all properties in the municipality. For example, council could decide that certain road improvements should be funded only by the benefiting properties. Road standards vary now (for example, the commercial core roads are wider and better paved than some little-used rural roads) and this too could continue. Not all areas receive equal fire protection now; properties that are inaccessible to fire fighting equipment now would remain inaccessible even if Salt Spring becomes a municipality. However, many municipal services would be funded equally across the whole community. Examples of this include policing, land use planning, and building inspection.
Q. Would there be
taxes needed for social programs such as welfare?
A.
Municipalities are not responsible for a share of welfare and other provincial
and federal social program costs. Any decisions to initiate or share in other
types of social programs would rest with council.
Q. Could the
municipal tax rate be capped?
A. The farm tax rate could be capped (for example, at the prevailing rural rate); however, it seems unlikely the province would impose a special restriction on residential or business tax rates in a Salt Spring municipality, since there are virtually no other municipalities in the province with such restrictions. Only the province has the power to impose special tax rate rules on a municipality.
Q. Would Island
Trust taxes fall?
A. Yes, they would fall because local planning costs would become part of the municipal budget rather than the Island Trust tax system (though this does not mean the costs would necessarily be less – merely that they would no longer be an Islands Trust tax). Salt Spring would still pay taxes for Trust-wide services, which are much less than the local planning costs, but would no longer share in the local planning costs for other islands since it would be paying in full for its own planning work.
MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS
Q. What are the pros
and cons of incorporation?
A. Remembering that one person’s "pro" can be another person’s "con", we suggest you look at the "Considerations List" developed by the committee to determine what you think the pros and cons of incorporation would be. The Considerations List is available on the website www.saltspring.com/incorporation or in one of the two binders located in the library for in-library use only.
Q. How would growth
rates change, especially with respect to age groups?
A. It is unlikely that changing to municipal status would have any predictable effect at all on Salt Spring’s age group mix.
Q. What would happen
to the library?
A. Nothing meaningful would happen to the operation of the library. It would still be an independent association, and could continue to be staffed by volunteers.
Q. Does the study
provide any population projections?
A. The study focuses on the changes related to municipal incorporation rather than changes due to population growth. There is no basis for suggesting or predicting how growth rates under municipal status might differ from growth rates under rural status.
Q. Would
incorporation have any effect on population growth?
A. Municipal status by itself might have little effect on population growth, since the existing development rights allowed under the island’s current land use and development rules would allow substantial new housing no matter what form of local government is in place.
Q. Will the
province’s sale of the courthouse affect municipal status?
A. Not now. If the province had retained ownership and if Salt Spring became a municipality, it was hoped the province might agree to transfer the building for use as a municipal hall, but the sale has ended that. This means some other facilities would have to be rented or purchased. Rental costs, based on current rental rates, are included in the financial projections.
Q. Would the need
for more cycle paths be addressed under municipal status?
A. The municipality would have the authority to plan, build, and manage cycle paths, but there is no way of knowing what priority a future council would give to this.
Q. Would there be
grants for the Chamber of Commerce?
A. This would be up to municipal council.
Q. What strain on
services and on the quality of life will additional population growth mean?
A. Measuring the impacts of community growth is beyond the scope of the restructure study.
Q. If Salt Spring
becomes a municipality, would it be responsible for the Women’s Transition
House?
A. No. The Transition House is funded by the province and this funding is not linked to any particular form of local government.
A. No, not in any meaningful way. The level of fire protection and the equipment needed to provide it would not be affected by becoming a municipality. However, the small number of properties in the southwest part of the island that are not part of the fire protection service now would probably contribute to its funding through the general municipal tax. The municipality would not be required to expand its capabilities to serve this area at the same level as other, more accessible areas. (See also below.)
Q. Would we still be
able to have a largely volunteer fire department?
A. Yes. This is common in municipalities.
Q. Part of Salt
Spring (the Musgrave area) does not have fire protection coverage now. Would
this still be the case if we became a municipality?
A. Under the existing rules, the municipality doesn’t have to build roads to get to areas in order to protect them. Future changes to the Local Government Act may be clearer on just what would be required of a municipality, but this is speculation.
Q. What would the
province spend on our roads if we do not form a municipality?
A. There is no reliable way to estimate this, but there is no reason to assume that the province would spend any less on maintenance or capital improvements to the roads than it does now. Nor is it possible to assume that the province would spend any more. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the extent of road improvements the province may undertake. In the absence of any new policies from the province, the safest assumption is that the level of effort now spent on our roads would continue under rural status.
Q. Would we inherit
the public works equipment now used for road works?
A. No, this equipment belongs to the province’s private road contractor.
Q. Would
compensation have to be paid the province for taking over the roads?
A. Responsibility for roads would automatically be shifted from the province to the municipality, with no purchase price charged to the municipality.
Q. Would private
road contracts end?
A. No, all municipalities contract out some part of their road works, even if it is only a minor share (for example, few municipalities operate their own concrete plant). The provincial contractor would continue to maintain roads at no cost to the municipality for the first five years. (Note that this is limited to roads maintenance. The municipality would be responsible for road improvements within that time period.) After that it would be up to municipal council to decide whether to continue with private contracting.
Q. Who would set
road standards?
A. Municipal council would set the roads standards. While there are generally accepted guidelines for roads, there is considerable variation in standards. For example, the City of Vancouver and the District of Metchosin have different standards, yet both are municipalities. In Bowen, the municipal council has chosen to set road standards that allow for narrow, curvier, steeper roads than those before incorporation, with lower speed limits.
Q. Would RCMP costs
change?
A. While the total costs and service level would not change appreciably, the local taxes needed for policing would rise under the current rules for municipalities. This is because under the current federal-provincial agreement, the municipality would pay 70% of the officers’ cost plus 100% of other policing-related costs – as opposed to the current system in which the provincial rural tax is levied for roads and policing regardless of local cost. It is possible that these rules could change prior to the Salt Spring referendum. If so, the changes would be factored into the tax analysis before the next public information process.