Langford’s taxes could go up an extra one per cent and the new RCMP detachment could be delayed for up to 18 months after the committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday (April 19).
Council members were evaluating options to fund the purchase of the YMCA-YWCA Westhills facility, the design phase of the new RCMP detachment and ongoing capital asset management during Tuesday’s meeting. Funds to pay for those aren’t included in the draft 2023 to 2027 five-year financial plan.
All four options involve the city borrowing funds, either over the short term (five years), long term (20 years) or a hybrid of the two. The fourth option involved not buying the YMCA facility, one which staff didn’t recommend since Langford is required to pay its $1.9-million annual subsidy to the YMCA for the remaining 18 years of the lease.
Council members ultimately motioned for staff to proceed with including option A in the budget, which would see the city borrow $30 million to pay for the YMCA-YWCA facility purchase, $50 million for construction of the new RCMP detachment and pay that back over five years, bringing the cost for the borrowing to $89.3 million.
Option A requires an additional 3.5 per cent tax increase for each year from 2024 to 2027, plus a one per cent increase for 2023 added to the already proposed 11.94 per cent hike, plus $11.8 million of the city’s money received from the province’s Growing Communities Fund. Langford received a $16.4-million grant.
While this option allows for asset management funds to be set aside earlier than if the city pursued long-term borrowing – 2032 versus 2043 – and would save the city $28 million in interest payments, it would mean the start of construction for the new RCMP detachment would be pushed back 12 to 18 months to 2026 (also the case if the city went with long-term borrowing). Other options would have had construction starting in 2025, but would mean higher tax increases.
Speaking at the meeting, Insp. Steve Rose said there’d be added costs because the detachment would need to find an interim facility to house some staff as the detachment continues to grow. With an average growth rate of five to 10 staff a year, and construction expected to take two years, Rose said the current detachment wouldn’t have room for that many new staff.
“Adding more staff is going to amplify the space crunch that we’re already feeling,” Rose said in an interview with Black Press. “So if we’re not going to be able to occupy the new building until five years from now, there’s a potential of having to find space, or workspace for 25 to 50 more staff members. That’s a substantial number of staff to place somewhere.”
Where the facility would be located, when it would be needed, and how much it would cost is yet to be determined. While Rose said the need for an interim facility was inevitable, delaying construction will increase costs.
“The most likely outcome will be leaving some of the support sections that don’t rely upon the existing infrastructure to move,” Rose said. “That does create some inefficiencies because then you have those officers and staff having to commute back and forth to the main building. There’s a duplication in administration, there’s a duplication in needed security and physical assets in that secondary location, that may already exist in the main building. So it’s not ideal, but it may be the interim solution.”
Rose pointed to officers in the municipal traffic division who are often out on patrol anyways as potentially a unit that could be moved.
“I’m sure that we can work together for that interim facility that you’re going to require, so sort of eat this elephant one bite at a time,” said Coun. Lillian Szpak during the meeting.
Langford has scheduled an additional committee of the whole meeting for Friday (April 21) at 11:30 a.m. for more deliberations on the budget.
Council will consider the first, second and third readings of the bylaws on May 8 at 7 p.m. Council will then consider adoption of the bylaws on May 11 at 7 p.m. ahead of the provincial deadline for municipalities to pass their budgets, which is on May 15.
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