Pemberton's mayor and council began 2022 budget deliberations at the Feb. 1 Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting.*
However, the Village of Pemberton’s (VOP) manager of finance Thomas Sikora did note that the iteration of the budget presented on Feb. 1 is the first pass, and reflects unaudited numbers from a “snapshot in time,” which may be subject to change as the year-end process is completed over the coming weeks.
At present, the operating budget for 2022 shows a deficit of $494,433. However, a 2021 surplus carryover of $616,107 has resulted in a net overall surplus of $121,674 for 2022 “before reflecting any project additions,” according to Sikora.
The surplus is the result of “projects which were reflected in last year’s budget which were funded which may not have been completed,” he said. “So that’s a contributor where we’ll see that carried forward into next year.”
The budget’s capital expenditures are broken up across seven categories: admin, fire department, development, public works and parks, water projects, sewer projects, and reserves, with the largest allocation of $6,198,783 going towards public works.
Nearly half of that total allocation to public works will be put towards the continued construction of the new soccer field and amenity building on Pemberton Farm Road East, which is estimated to be completed this year, according to Sikora.
Other major projects that will be underway this year include the installation of EV Chargers in two different locations in town, funded through grants and a gas tax; breaking ground on the new Bike Skills Park, which will be funded entirely from previously received grants carried over from 2021; and the repair of Pemberton Farm Road East, Farm Road Trail and Pebble Creek Drive, which will be funded through a collection of grants, COVID restart funds and reserves carried over from 2021.
And while it may not have the highest dollar figure attached to it at just $18,000, with water conservation top of mind after the summer’s heat dome (which led to record water use in the community), leak detection in the village’s water system is a priority for operations and projects manager Tom Csima.
“I’ve talked quite a bit about water conservation. And I think it’s a pretty critical part of our water conservation plan to find where the leaks are,” he said. “This is basically a device that can detect leaks based on frequencies using listening devices; it’s a pretty cool technology, so we’re excited to get something like that.”
Pemberton’s water and sewer systems are also set to receive significant SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) improvements that will allow for a more direct and immediate response to any problems that arise by notifying an operator directly. The current notification system relies on someone noticing the flashing beacon and phoning the operator directly, which means it could be hours before anyone even knows there is a problem, according to Csima.
The final budget with full tax implications is set to be completed and presented to the COW on March 8, while the first three readings for the adoption of the budget is scheduled for the VOP regular council meeting on April 5 with a special council meeting for the fourth and final reading scheduled for April 26.
Find budget documents and stay up to date with the process at pemberton.ca.
*A version of this story that appeared in Pique's Feb. 3 print edition implied the VOP may not institute a tax increase this year. Pemberton's typical budget process involves releasing a draft budget with no tax increases, with those increases/implications to be reflected at future sessions.
