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.
  • This range of about $1100 to 1500 is 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. When estimated for borrowing and annual payments over 30 years, the capital cost per property would be in the range of about $2900-3400. Additionally, an estimate for a water treatment plant was given at around $7-8 million. 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. This is considered to be the least ideal scenario. Once the necessary projects are completed, only the funds needed would be borrowed.