The issue of downloading services from one level of government, to the next, is obviously having a serious affect on municipalities

Last week in Penticton, mayors from 86 communities across British Columbia met to discuss issues they have been facing, and of concern, as more and more areas previously looked after (and funded) by Federal and Provincial governments, get downloaded on to them.  

In a story from the Okanagan’s CHBC TV News, Dianne Watts, Mayor of Surrey said:

“B.C.’s municipalities need a new deal with the provincial and federal governments to provide the services our constituents expect.  Municipalities provide the vast majority of the service in areas such as infrastructure while being given only 8 cents out of every tax dollar to do it.”

While Penticton Mayor Dan Ashton said:

“We all realize there is only one taxpayer and those taxpayers are challenged these days and that challenge is one that we as mayors and council have to address.  The analogy of people being able to support more services through taxation is not one that any mayor in this province wants to accept.”

A news release from the Mayors, following their meeting in Penticton, also brought up a number of additional areas of concerns, where local governments are:

• now providing land as a precondition for the Province to build social housing projects
• now responsible for ensuring residential tenancies are properly maintained by landlords
• paying more for policing as new federal laws require more work to gather more evidence to support charges being approved
• managing flood hazard areas and related liability
• dealing with the aftermath of psychiatric hospitals closures by the Province which has placed many vulnerable people on the street
• paying local fire departments to respond to medical calls, displacing the need for added resources by the provincially funded ambulance service

In light of last week’s Mayors gathering in the Okanagan, I emailed to ask Kamloops Mayor Peter Millobar if he could provide me with any details / answers to the following questions:

1. Schools, hospitals, and universities all pay a provincial government imposed carbon tax to the Pacific Carbon Trust, does this also include municipal buildings owned or operated by the City of Kamloops?
2. Would it be correct that the City of Kamloops also pays the Carbon Tax on fuel for municipal vehicles, as well as transit buses? 
3. Have municipal facilities, and vehicles, had higher BC Hydro and ICBC rates imposed on them? 
4. There has been an increase in MSP premiums to British Columbians. Are MSP costs for unionized, and management workers, paid for by the City of Kamloops, and was the city hit by these increases? 
5. What kind of impact will increases to RCMP salaries have on the City of Kamloops? Was the city aware of these increases, prior to the Provincial government signing off on a new provincial policing agreement? 
6. Have any other recent 'unexpected' costs been imposed by the provincial government, on municipalities, over the past 2 years?

I also asked about what the direct annual costs to the city are, for the above items, and how this has impacted the budget for the City of Kamloops. Hopefully I'll hear back on this soon, and will be able to share his answers.

The issue of downloading services from one level of government, to the next, is obviously having a serious affect on municipalities; which is why I thought I would share something from the BC Conservative Party Policy document;

Section 2.2:
"In matters relating to Municipalities, the BC Conservative Party supports ensuring that any downloading of services from the Province to municipalities will only be undertaken with openness, and accompanied by appropriate resources and funding."

As my friend Al Siebring says … “Doesn't get any simpler than that.”  What do you think?

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.