Many homeowners would celebrate the possibility of seeing an annual tax dropped from an estimated $741 to $274 a year.
Both relate to Colwood homeownersB次元官网网址� estimated cost in 2030 for a sewage treatment system. The higher figure was floated some months ago by the Capital Regional District. It was for a system that would include a main plant at Rock Bay and a tertiary plant in Colwood.
The Colwood plant would only handle City flows and be paid for entirely by Colwood taxpayers. It would also have required the City to build in redundancies, such as a separate outfall.
The $274 number provided by the CRD is for a two-plant system that would include one facility at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt and another at VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Clover Point. For the time being, that plan puts Colwood back into a situation where it is sharing a proportionate cost of a regional system.
The updated number shifted the CityB次元官网网址檚 taxpayers from the top of the heap among fellow municipal householders to the bottom.
With no treatment plant locations nailed down and the costs still a long way from being determined, this numbers game still isnB次元官网网址檛 playing out happily for Colwood Mayor Carol Hamilton.
B次元官网网址淚 find these numbers frustrating at the very best of times,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 have a site, we donB次元官网网址檛 have technology B次元官网网址次元官网网址�
Acknowledging that the $741 figure B次元官网网址渟cared the pants off me,B次元官网网址� and many other city residents B次元官网网址� especially those not hooked up to sewer lines B次元官网网址� Hamilton said a more accurate figure under the original scenario would have been about $350. However, she and City engineering staff are still trying to figure out a way to make the cost of dealing with sewage more equitable for all Colwood taxpayers, including those who may never be on sewer.
Despite the lower number, Hamilton isnB次元官网网址檛 celebrating. SheB次元官网网址檇 rather see the CRD put the shared cost of construction and operations of whatever sewage treatment system is put in place as a separate line item on peopleB次元官网网址檚 bills.
B次元官网网址淚f Oak BayB次元官网网址檚 big number is to assist with (fixing) leaky pipes, letB次元官网网址檚 take that out of the picture. Then at least itB次元官网网址檚 transparent and again it feeds into the communication to the public that weB次元官网网址檙e out to find a solution.B次元官网网址�
The new 2030 estimates, which are based on municipalitiesB次元官网网址� current and projected future sewage capacity, see Oak Bay homeowners paying the most at $624. That is followed by Victoria ($546), Esquimalt ($514), View Royal ($464), Langford ($447) and Saanich ($404).
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
