Communication is Key

2/20/2015

North Cowichan is a community of communities. Smaller parts of a greater whole -- neighbours who share one thing -- North Cowichan is our home.

Local politics -- schools, zoning, council elections -- hit us where we live. So why don't more of us actually get involved? Partly we're busy on the every-day-athon of life. Partly we don't realize our involvement can make a big difference.
There are more ways to keep informed now than when I was first elected. Council Matters can be sent right to your inbox with a message from the Mayor after each Council meeting and Council meetings are streamed live and archived on the NC website. There is a public input period at the beginning of each agenda, where citizens can make their views known on agenda items before Council votes on the issue. And Mayor and Council are available by phone or email, or chats on the street.

Government can go a long way towards inviting and keeping citizen engagement through better communication -- communication that puts as much emphasis on listening as telling. During my 1st term as Councillor I was pleased to serve on the Communications Committee that laid the groundwork for improved communication going forward.

We now have a Community Liaison Coordinator, and under her excellent guidance, the first monthly issue of North Cowichan Update has appeared on page 8 of the Citizen newspaper, February 20, 2105. Click here you want to read it electronically.
North Cowichan also publishes Council Matters and employment opportunities, as well as updates on endeavours we are working on.

Last night there was a meeting in Chemainus on the Bonsall Creek Watershed Management Plan, currently under development -- it was a lively evening, many opinions were expressed. You can even sign up to get updates to that plan.

5 Comments

Rob Saare

4/19/2015 12:23:54 pm

Kate,

Communication is the key. Yet recently when asked about moving to evening council meetings you were paraphrased to say that the people that attend are merely hobbyists. Now you write about communication being the key to good leadership. What exactly do you know about leadership. As far as I can see you offer nothing of value at the council table except to say that you are the author of the latest tax to hit us to save the environment. That and you like to talk about tax increases as if they are nothing since they are merely a few dollars per $100K of assessed value. Why don't we turn the wall behind the mayor into a chalk board and for every decision council votes on we add up the few dollars per $100K assessed value and see where we end up in your 4 year term. Clearly you are not getting the message that the taxpayers of this valley are fed up with the MNC/CVRD taxfest. This year my mere $5000 tax bill will be raised another 5.5 - 6% thanks to politicians like you that can't do the homework to keep staff accountable for the money they spend. Case in point, did you know that for every dollar we spend on staff wages, we also are tasked with spending another $0.26 cents for benefits that outweigh the private sector by close to 30%. Do your homework and start thinking about the comments you make to us "Hobbyists" who attend council meetings as we are paying the bills. If you don't want anyone to attend or offer input in council meetings, then change the democratic system and we can move back to the dirty thirties that included communism and coal powered furnaces.

Rob Saare
North Cowichan

Kate Marsh

4/20/2015 05:56:07 am

Hello Rob,
Thanks for acknowledging that I was 'paraphrased'. I voted to move the budget meetings on Council to the evening. I think the present timing of Council works, though I did prefer it when the meetings started at 3 pm for much of 2012 - 2014. I felt it was a happy medium for folks. There is no way to satisfy everyone regards the time. Evening meetings involve greater cost as non-exempt staff (such as planners) would have to be paid overtime. Also, with up to six hour meetings, I don't think Councillors can make their best decisions after about 9 pm. Communication is key, so I would hate to shorten the time for public input when it is needed and I truly believe that people will come out no matter what time a meeting is, when the issue is really important to them, just like people go during the day to doctor's, lawyers and other professional appointments.

The latest tax you refer to is the Climate & Energy Reserve Fund, which was set after a poll showed a majority of people in North Cowichan favored a 1% tax. It was not a huge majority, so yes, I was one of the Councillors that supported a .5 % dedicated tax. This is being used to fund energy saving projects that will keep taxes lower, because they reduce energy consumption as well as GHG emissions. I made no secret of the fact that I feel that taxes in NC are about right, in the run up to the election, so I consider myself as representative of those that agreed with me and put me in the chair. In 2014 the increase in GMTR (general municipal tax rate) was 2.84% on the average home in North Cowichan. In simple terms, the GMTR is just one factor in individual property's tax increases. A specific % increase doesn’t automatically translate into that same % amount on every single property.

Assessments are set by BC Assessment Authority based on market conditions -- tax rates don’t change by a static % across the board. This prevents huge “windfalls” in rising markets rise and revenue shortages in falling markets. Simply put municipality adjusted the GMTR to collect the required tax requisition after considering assessment changes. However due to our unique geography, assessments don’t change uniformly across the board, making our average merely that, an average. Some property assessments are higher than average, others lower -- yet the increase balances out over time.

Of greater concern to me is that for every dollar in total taxes we pay in Canada local government gets 8 cents and are increasingly asked to do more and more with it.
Just like mine and yours, the municipality’s expenses have gone up -- no surprise -- everything is going up. Yet last year the average homeowner paid $1,369 in general municipal taxes to pay for municipal services. When you think about all the services provided by the municipality it seems we are getting good value for $114 per month ($1,369 per year excluding sewer and water) which is less than some people pay for internet and television services. Please be assured we are always looking for savings and efficiencies and in my view we get good value for our general municipal property taxes.

Senior governments are devolving themselves of traditional responsibilities and leaving them to local government-- and due to current financial system -- to property owners. The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) “ Strong Fiscal Futures” outlines ways to make the local tax system in BC more equitable for all concerned by reducing reliance on property taxes (which is admittedly a somewhat regressive tax) Let the [email protected] know if you agree.

In the end it is unsustainable to 'download' to our kids and grandkids the true costs to our society by leaving our property taxes artificially low. This simply transfers the problem of the infrastructure deficit to our kids.

I am grateful that you broach these topics. The problems and issues belong to us all. Let's work together to make a community that is fair and equitable to all. Together we can. Hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather in this incredibly gorgeous place we call home.
Kate Marsh
North Cowichan Councillor

Rob Saare

4/20/2015 07:24:53 am

Kate,

Thank you for addressing my concerns. It's good to know that your listening and not afraid to tackle the hard issues.

After reviewing the 2013 and 2014 budget items line by line, the glaring items are in fact, wages, salaries and benefits. With almost half of the annual budget going to these line items, we need to consider that these constant increases in salaries and wages for public sector employees is increasingly becoming unsustainable. Case in point. I received the emails from MNC on job postings and when you hire students for temporary 3 month assignments and pay $19+ dollars per hour plus 6% in lieu of holiday pay, that tells me that there is something fundamentally wrong with the hiring system. I don't want to deny people good wages, but overpaying is just as wrong and affects the private sector unfairly.

The taxpayers don't necessarily look at the split between CVRD taxes and MNC taxes. For me, the bottom line is the cheque I write and when I compare it to my previous addresses on the mainland, they are approximately 23 - 32% higher. I understand population has a role to play here, but regardless, there is no need to overtax the citizens and this especially hurts the younger families looking to purchase their first home. Should inflation cause interest rates to rise even 2% we will see a mass exodus from the housing market and this could affect property taxes in a most negative way.

You and I can continue to disagree on taxation, I merely want our elected officials to start looking at the line items that are costing us the most and when the staff say they want to hire another consultant, ask them why the current staff can't do the job, then determine if we need those staff filling a desk. Perhaps we may be better off outsourcing if we require real expertise for short term assignments.

Again, thank you for addressing my concerns.

Kate Marsh

4/22/2015 01:56:38 am

Hello again Rob,

True enough that taxpayer's don't necessarily see how low North Cowichan 'municipal general taxes' are. We are 8th lowest of Vancouver Island communities. If you count 'all in' -- CVRD, etc, we are actually 5th lowest. It is indeed a challenge for young people to afford to get into home ownership. It takes about 15 years for a young couple to save enough for a down payment on a house in BC. Certainly also a challenge for those living in homes that are assessed a lot higher than the average, which yours must be if your tax bill is $5 K. I live in a less than average assessed home and my overall taxes are around the $ 3K mark. (average home in NC is assessed at $312K this year) North Cowichan is trying to attract and retain businesses that will employ young folks and keep them or attract them here. When one realizes that Canadians spend close to $ 40K a year on those citizens that are 65+ and less than $12K a year on those under 45, (for healthcare, education, etc) it seems to me that we need to make sure we can support those younger folks as much as possible and part of the way we do this, is to have great recreation opportunities and towns and cities that are attractive to business. Our own tax restructuring committee from the early 2000's concluded that investors invest in communities that invest in themselves.

Having said that, there are Councillors who are pushing for much lower tax increases and Council has committed to looking at the operating side of the budget for 2016. Capital cuts merely download to those very young people, (and future retirees to our municipality) the cost of our current and recent lifestyles. Like the rest of Canada, we have also seen an infrastructure deficit here, which is why Council of the day adopted a policy the goal of which is to set aside 15 % of tax revenue for the capital budget. We are currently under 13 %. Everyone does things differently. I know I don't feel comfortable personally unless I have cash set aside for urgent repairs to my main asset, my home. North Cowichan owns almost $ 250 million in assets and its important we have an asset management plan in order to keep them in good order. In fact, future grants seem to be going in the direction of being given to those communities that do have an Asset Management Plan -- which NC is embarking on. Have a great day...

Fuss Ballikone link

8/29/2023 01:17:50 am

Greaat reading your post

Author

I'm passionate about this beautiful place we call home and take my service as Councillor at North Cowichan and Director at CVRD very seriously.

The viewpoints on this blog are my own -- I will do my best to reflect the decisions of Council and the CVRD accurately -- however the subjective ideas are mine. I don't pretend to speak authoritatively for the whole of Council or the CVRD.

I'd love your input and ideas and about how we can make North Cowichan better and better.

Let's stay in touch.

[email protected]

Communication is Key

Leave a Reply.

Author

Archives

Categories