The Skaha Estates Improvement District board is authorized to levy taxes, tolls and other charges, to invest money, to borrow and to expend money in accordance with Part 17 of the Local Government Act.

As identified on the invoice sent to each taxpayer of the Skaha Estates Improvement District, the board prepares, mails and collects their taxes, tolls, and other charges to recover costs and make improvements.

Upon the RDOS acquiring the utility, various options for parcel owners will be explored, including lump sum payments for any completed system upgrades.

When the RDOS applies for grants, the applications are directed to the agencies that have funds to support various criteria. As such, the RDOS applies to the appropriate funding agency to support a project. A project scope will vary and may only encompass a portion of the entire utility upgrade. If other applicable funding agencies are identified, applications are submitted as deemed appropriate.

Residents are advised to check all tax decisions for themselves. However, the province has confirmed that if eligibility conditions are met for property tax deferral, parcel taxes would be included if the taxpayer enrolls in the program.

To the RDOS’ knowledge, we are not aware of any denials of fire insurance based on water system pressure at hydrants. The fire departments in the Electoral Areas are prepared by having water tenders as part of their fleet. Many fire protection areas do not have a community water system, and the fire department would bring all the water with them. The fire departments have a plan for where they would go to get more water, whether it be a nearby water body or a community system.

The RDOS acknowledges that the previous designs didn’t consider fire flows when systems and reservoirs were designed for small water systems. When upgrades are completed over time in any small system, the new standards will be followed. The RDOS does not know of any small water system that replaces infrastructure just to meet fire flows yet. There are usually other issues, such as aging infrastructure or increased demands.

The annual user fee amounts will depend on many factors, such as the type of treatment system in place, the costs for operations and maintenance, regulatory testing requirements, and the amount of reserves collected annually. During the presentation given by RDOS staff, the estimated annual user fees could be between $1200 and $1700 based on comparison with other water systems currently operated.

Water meter installations would be part of the overall upgrade capital costs, primarily implemented as upgrades to pipes were made. There would be a certain number installed each year that would be included in the overall fees collected annually. It is not intended to be an extra individual cost to owners, but part of the larger upgrade projects. It makes it more affordable to combine it with pipe upgrades as the service connections are typically upgraded then as well, as they are the same age. With the installation of water meters, leaks can be easily detected, and usage will likely drop, as seen in the majority of universal metering case studies. This decrease in water demand can also benefit the water users by reducing the annual operating costs through less pumping or chemical costs, particularly once a water treatment plant is constructed.

The estimated annual usage costs for having a meter are included in the estimated range provided in the February 19, 2025 presentation. Some people will use a lot of water, and others will use less. This would be reflected in the overall bills.

The estimated annual usage costs for having a meter are included in the estimated range provided in the February 19, 2025, presentation. Some people will use a lot of water, and others will use less. This would be reflected in the overall bills. As for the specific base rate or cost per litre of water, this is something that would be calculated after the metering was completed for all properties.

As an example of a metered water system, the West Bench Water System is fully metered.

• The base rate for a single-family dwelling in West Bench is $936.61
• The meter rate in West Bench is $0.498 / cubic meter
• Several West Bench properties had metering use fees ranging from $200 to $600 per year.
  • The range provided was an example of how variable the annual rates can be for each property, depending on the water used.

The base fee would cover all fixed annual costs (such as staff, administrative, testing, communications, software and Health & Safety) and there would be a rate set for usage that would fluctuate based on how much people used (this would likely be based on the costs of maintaining treatment systems or electricity use).

The goal would be to collect sufficient fees to pay for all the annual expenses for the water system, including some that would be put into a capital replacement reserve.

The assessment report completed by TRUE estimated upgrade projects to cost about $8 million. Additionally, an estimate for a water treatment plant was given at around $7-8 million. This totals about $16 million in capital upgrades. This is in line with the capital estimates from the recent assessment on Lakeshore Waterworks for a required water treatment plant. Borrowing for the water treatment plant would cost roughly $3400 annually. In total, the estimated annual cost if all projects have to move forward and no grant funding is secured, the annual cost would be about $6500-6800 (a range is given that accounts for fluctuations in the interest rate % used in debt repayment calculations). This is considered to be the least ideal scenario. Once the necessary projects are completed, only the funds needed would be borrowed.

The Service Area for the water system would have two annual costs that are billed to a parcel owner.

• User Fee: Cost of service usage (operational costs) User fee is a high-level estimate
  • The estimated annual User Fee: $1,200 - $1,700
• Parcel Tax: Debt servicing costs (funding of capital upgrades) estimated using 30-year amortization at 4.87%
  • The estimated cost of the capital upgrades: $8 million for capital projects P1 to P10 in the TRUE report.
  • The estimated cost of the Water Treatment Plant: about $7.5 million
  • Number of parcels in the Service Area: 159 active (26 inactive/empty lot)
  • Assuming all projects are necessary and the maximum borrowing amount of $15.5 million: $6,800 annual fee for capital costs for 30 years
  • Notes:
    o The above-identified costs are based on estimated maximums without any senior government grant funding being received.
    o Only the amount necessary will be borrowed.
    o Once true costs are known for completed capital costs, the RDOS will explore lump sum payment options for the parcel tax component
    
    

There is not a caveat that the assets will not be publicized as RDOS assets, and the RDOS would not be receptive to this condition. All RDOS parks are public.

Lakeshore and Sage Mesa are privately owned, not improvement districts, so the process is different. If the RDOS conducts a referendum, we are bound by the requirements of the Local Government Act, which outlines who is an eligible elector. It does not require property ownership in order to vote. In this case, the SEID would be conducting a vote following the regulations for improvement districts in bylaw approval. For details on voting eligibility, please contact SEID.

If the RDOS takes on the utility, monies would be borrowed from the Municipal Finance Authority (MFA) for the upgrades. The MFA determines how payments are made. Rates and payment options from MFA are different from options provided to individuals by a bank.

• SEID would provide formal notice of their intent to dissolve to the RDOS and the Province, as an Order in Council is required from the Provincial Cabinet
• Once the Order is received, transfer of system assets, rights of way, and water licences would commence.

The system would remain with the SEID, and the acquisition process would stop.

There would be a gradual increase in property taxes as the system is upgraded.

The amounts in the bylaws are the least ideal scenario. The RDOS has a Purchasing Manager on staff who works to keep costs down, and RFPs are awarded to qualified bidders at the lowest cost.

The RDOS aggressively pursues available grant opportunities but, cannot guarantee the successful receipt of future grants.

Most senior government grant programs use a breakdown of 1/3 of the funds from federal government, 1/3 of the funds from Provincial government and 1/3 of the funds would be from the service receiving the grant. Grant programs each have specific criteria that the projects have to be compared to and the best projects will be applied for. For example, sometimes the grant focuses on providing improved treatment and access to clean safe water – this means an application for a water treatment system would likely fit into the criteria. The Regional District staff prepares the application and submits it for the selected projects and then waits for news on whether grant funds are received or not. This period of time can take over a year, depending on the specific program and the timeframe for which the grant funds must be spent.

The Regional District typically will apply for grants on a project by project basis; such as upgrades to a wastewater treatment plant or installation of a water treatment plant. We have found smaller requests for grant funding in the range of $2-3 Million are easier to receive funding for than larger ones over the $8-10M range.

At this time, the Regional District has to be prepared to complete all the necessary upgrades without the assistance of grant funds, which is why the borrowing amounts are sufficient to cover the full costs of upgrades. Grants will be applied for as applicable programs are available once the systems belong to the Regional District in efforts to reduce costs for the users. If a project can be delayed to wait for grants, the Regional District will try multiple times for a grant. Some projects may need to proceed due to regulatory timelines without grant funding.

Generally grants are applied for after acquisition but, they can be applied for ahead of the acquisition, if a new grant program is opened.

Provincial water quality standards have increased over time and the existing system requires upgrades and maintenance.

Installation would not necessarily happen right away, as it would be dependent on staff availability and the status of other projects. However, grant applications would be viewed more favourably if water meters were either already installed or were being installed soon.

The Skaha Estates Improvement District board is authorized to levy taxes, tolls and other charges, to invest money, to borrow and to expend money in accordance with Part 17 of the Local Government Act.

As identified on the invoice sent to each taxpayer of the Skaha Estates Improvement District, the board prepares, mails and collects their taxes, tolls, and other charges to recover costs and make improvements.

When the RDOS applies for grants, the applications are directed to the agencies that have funds to support various criteria. As such, the RDOS applies to the appropriate funding agency to support a project. A project scope will vary and may only encompass a portion of the entire utility upgrade. If other applicable funding agencies are identified, applications are submitted as deemed appropriate.

Residents are advised to check all tax decisions for themselves. However, the province has confirmed that if eligibility conditions are met for property tax deferral, parcel taxes would be included if the taxpayer enrolls in the program.

The installation of water meters will be one of several issues that will be reviewed and addressed if the conversion of the water system to the RDOS is approved.

Upon that occurring, a plan will be developed for the installation of meters, along with the possible restoration of surrounding landscapes.

For further voting information, please visit the Skaha Estates Improvement District website, and on the right side, under "Alerts", click "Notice of Assent Voting", where a link to a detailed sheet can be found.