On the Agenda: 25% Rate Increase

On Halloween, Council will be back in city hall for regular council meetings.

Delegations:

•  The mustard seed is presenting information on the two homeless shelters they will run this winter at the Yacht Club and the Alliance Church.

•  Propolis Cooperative Housing Society will present on their affordable housing project.

9.3 2023 Kamloops Point-In-Time Count Report

 - Supervisor Hartson will present the "point in time" homeless count for Kamloops showing 312 individuals were counted and  220 surveys were completed.  From 2021 to 2023 there has been a 50% increase in people experiencing homelessness in Kamloops. This is an under count for homeless and we heard from Deputy CAO McCorkell that the numbers were likely north of 400 at the CoK town hall in Barnhartvale on Wednesday.

9.4 2024 Utility Budgets and Rates

 - Council will receive a report from Manager Wightam on proposed increases to utility rates.  The report covers water, sewage and garbage rates.

Water Rates

Of the proposed increases, the water rates will increase the most. There are 3 reasons for this:

1. Council increased the assist factor to reduce development costs which resulted in 5million less in revenue.

2. There were 3.2 million in payout costs related to the Noble Creek decommissioning

3. Because of the drought, and under the authority of the Sustainable Water Act, Kamloops residents had restricted water use this summer. Residents used less water thus reducing the revenue for the city.

It's not clear what the loss of revenue was due to water restrictions, or the total payout to the Noble Creek users including decommissioning costs.

Sewage Rates 

Sewge rates will also increase. Mainly due to required upgrades. According to the report:

Staff continue to work with consultants to finalize the Kamloops Sewage Treatment Centre Master Plan, which will identify required upgrades to ensure continued compliance with applicable regulations. The work required is expected to be significant, and the costs are anticipated to be substantial. The exact cost of these upgrades is yet to be determined, but staff have proactively begun budgeting for the expected costs and currently have approximately $43 million allocated toward the project within the 10-year capital plan.

Solid Waste

And finally, solid waste. On deck is a proposal to increase commercial and multi family garbage pickup by 25% each.

245L bins will increase by 10$/yr to " further incentivize residents to increase the diversion of recyclable materials from their garbage."

Increase the small load minimum from 5$ minimum to 10$ minimum to "to reduce the number of small loads that are coming across the scale on a regular basis."

There is also talk of increased rates for mixed construction demolition waste, which is coming to the landfills around 50% mixed - However even though the report recommends adopting new rates, the new rates are not mentioned.

Share this post: