The Keremeos reservoir project continues to float.
Three months after the Village of Keremeos held a referendum on the issue of borrowing to build the controversial project, the Keremeos Irrigation District has announced that they will hold a public meeting on July 24.
The meeting will put forward information on the reservoir project publically, culminating in a vote - this time held by the Keremeos Irrigation District - asking Keremeos Irrigation District ratepayers for permission to borrow funds for the reservoir.
The action is being taken by the KID in a final bid to retain $300.000 worth of grant funds obtained by the village through Gas Tax Funding.
In 2010, the KID held an Alternate Approval Process in which 10 per cent of KID ratepayers opposed borrowing for the reservoir. The Village of Keremeos then got involved, applying for a Gas Tax grant to assist in funding the project, which they were successful in obtaining.
Because the village could obtain loan rates at a better rate through the BC Municipal Finance Authority than the KID could through a bank (KID does not have access to BC Municipal Finance Authority Funding) the village held a referendum in April for village residents permission to borrow the remainder. The referendum subsequently failed, but the need for a reservoir has not.
“We need to do this project,” KID board chair Ian Walters said recently, “Our engineers have stated that it is a critical component of our water system, and is consistent with every other water system in our Valley. We would be remiss in our duties as trustees of the system, if we don’t address this major deficiency in our system. Especially if we have the opportunity to save each ratepayer approximately $300.00 per connection.”
The KID has looked at the critical need for a water reservoir, while trying to keep the costs to the ratepayers to a minimum. Having the village borrow the funds would have been the best option for ratepayers, as it would have resulted in no increase costs to ratepayers, however the village residents did not approve that option by a very small majority.
The KID sees itself with two available options at this point - hold their own vote for taxpayer approval for the KID to borrow the money, or raise all of the funding necessary through taxation.
If residents vote in favour of a loan, the $300,000 grant money would reduce additional cost to the taxpayer by about $300 per connection.
If the loan is not approved, ratepayers should prepare themselves for big increases in their water bills over the next five years.
The KID board sees two possible scenarios as follows:
1. Approval to borrow would allow the KID to keep the grant. Additional funding through taxation would amount to roughly $10 more per connection over the 20 year ammortization of the loan.
2. Deny borrowing approval, and the KID will have to increase fees by approximately $200 each year for five years to cover the cost of funding the reservoir.
More information on the public meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 24 will be mailed to each ratepayer in the near future. All KID ratepayers will be given an opportunity to vote, and residents with a business connection will be allowed a vote on those connections as well, as long as they provide the KID with a letter confirming a designate as representative for the business. Renters are not allowed to vote, which will be by secret ballot.