Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The budget for 2022 was one of the principle topics at the Strathcona Regional Districts Board Meeting, on Wednesday, February 9th. Part of this process involved looking into the finances for 2021. So in the first of a five part series arising from that meeting, Cortes Currents is looking into how the SRD is spending our money.
Many Cortes Island residents have probably noticed that they are paying about the same amount for taxes in 2021 as they did the year before. While this will change in 2022, it is only by about $47 for the average home.
Cortes Island Regional Director Noba Anderson explained that this is ‘because the tax rate is going up, [and] the actual requisition per thousand is going down.’
SRD Chief Financial Officer Mike Harmsworth said, “Electoral area B had one of the highest assessment increases for any of our areas. So they're going to be the most effected by the shift. Area B is primarily residential, so there's not a big impact. We're looking at a total requisition increase of about a $33,000.”
He was talking about property values.
A homeowner whose tax assessment was $1,005 for 2020, saw that increase one dollar (to $1,006) in 2021, will probably find themselves looking at a $1,053 bill in 2022. That is a $47 increase, which doesn’t take into account deductions for people who are retired or living in our homes.
As might be expected in a rural community like Cortes Island, the three big ticket items are government services, the fire department and parks.
