The five-year financial plan was presented on April 9, by the Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM) to an in-person audience in conjunction with an online livestream, which can be found on the municipality’s Facebook page.
Decisions on spending over the next five years developed from the 2025 preliminary budget, approved on Jan. 21. Then acting mayor, Len Hrycan, spoke to the reality of the decisions made within the five year budget, including the 5.5 per cent tax increase for municipal operations.
“The budget process this year has not been without its impact to taxes and utility rates – certainly not our preference but an unavoidable situation,” Hrycan stated.
“We have tried to ensure that we are taking the right steps to position ourselves as best we can for the future and we maintain a position of not adding any municipal debt while still trying to meet the much-needed capital expenditures.”
Following this year, a four per cent annual tax increase is set until 2029.
Other aspects of this five-year budget speak directly to the current economic uncertainty surrounding US tariff threats.
In speaking to operational revenue increases, SPMRM “applied a two per cent increase for inflation across years 2026 to 2029,” director of finance Cheryl Taylor-Gale said. “This is purely a projection, as there is currently significant uncertainty with the US tariff impact and the continued foreign buyer restrictions.”
Total operational revenue for 2025 is $9,137,424, with a projected estimate of $10,101,368 in 2029.
Continued work on housing development
As the municipality continues with updates to zoning and density started in 2024, grant funding has been secured to support changes to the official community plan and zoning bylaw.
Through the Housing Accelerator Fund, the municipality also aims to purchase another housing parcel for future development.
“Addressing housing needs remain a key priority for the municipality,” Taylor-Gale said.
To support this objective, the budget additionally allocates a $36,480 contribution to the Housing Authority from reserves set aside in 2024.
Looking for Canadian solutions in fire expenditures
As mentioned in the annual budget report, Sun Peaks fire operations see a large increase in expenditures for 2025. This budget of $846,637 is attributed to acquiring a new fire truck, personal protective equipment, SCBA gear and communications equipment.
Navigating the uncertainty of US tariffs and exchange, SPMRM is considering exploring Canadian options in sourcing a new fire truck. The price of a new truck is projected to be $770,000.
Public works capital
An increase of $23,000 has been added to this year’s budget to factor in cleaning, repairs and maintenance to the community’s vital roadways. $200,000 has been allocated to road improvement through to 2029, with equipment replacements for road maintenance being a focus for 2025.
Sun Peaks’ trail network will also see some improvement and development to the tune of $100,000 in an effort to preserve accessibility and recreation opportunities within the community.
Water and wastewater rate increase
An already announced 10 per cent increase to water and wastewater charges in 2025 is proposed to increase by another 10 per cent from 2026 to 2028 as work continues on development cost charges (DCC).
In 2024, the DCC bylaw was reviewed and updated but faced a complete lack of revenue collection due to no development activity. As water and wastewater projects continue to draw from the DCC funds, future community growth and infrastructure projects become challenging, “requiring collaborations to explore new strategies and solutions,” Taylor-Gale said.
While capital projects continue to increase, SPMRM remains committed to the acquisition of grants rather than rely solely on eligible revenues, such as property taxes and penalties, service fees and charges, sewer and water fees, and unconditional grants.
“We are currently at 52 per cent of our borrowing capacity,” Taylor-Gale stated. “We have identified $14 million dollar grants that have not been secured for needed capital infrastructure, water and wastewater.”
Following this public presentation of the Five Year Financial Plan, SPMRM will continue to gather feedback from community members and make any final adjustments. Questions and feedback can be submitted to Cheryl Taylor-Gale at dof@sunpeaksmunicipality.ca. The deadline for the Financial Plan and Tax Rate Bylaw is May 15.
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