Taxes will be going up slightly to pay for a regional emergency services program.
That’s after city council recently supported a request from the Strathcona Regional District, which runs the program, to raise the requisition limit in order to address gaps identified in emergency planning.
The regional district intends to increase the maximum amount taxable on Campbell River property owners from $0.03 for every $1,000 of taxable assessment to $0.375 for every $1,000 of taxable assessment.
That translates to a 25 per cent increase, but because the numbers are relatively small, it means a $2.25 increase for the owner of an average assessed Campbell River home (which is valued at $303,000).
Myriah Foort, the city’s finance manager, told council that Campbell River pays the bulk of the regional district’s costs for the region’s emergency services program based on population.
“The current total requisition for SRD (Strathcona Regional District) emergency services is $199,000 of which city residents pay 67.4 per cent or $134,161,” Foort said. “This proposed change is estimated to increase the total requisition for SRD emergency services to $248,750 of which city residents would pay $167,701.”
The emergency preparedness program exists to provide coordination, leadership and support for emergency preparedness programs and activities throughout the region, including response to emergencies and disaster situations on an as-needed basis.
The emergency program in the past has taken on initiatives such as an Amateur Radio Course to encourage more people to become volunteer ham radio operators, helped coordinate mock wildfire and evacuation scenarios, and hosted seminars on earthquake safety and what to do following an earthquake.
The overarching goal of the emergency preparedness program is to help individuals and organizations become resilient and adaptive so that they are better prepared in the event of an emergency and have the tools necessary to help themselves stay alive in the aftermath of an emergency.
However, Tom Yates, the regional district’s corporate services manager, said it’s come to the attention of regional district staff that not all communities are as prepared as they could, or should, be.
“The program recognizes that disasters are not constrained by municipal boundaries and that individual communities may lack sufficient resources to adequately prepare for or manage emergency situations without assistance,” Yates said. “Much of the focus of the program is to increase capacity at the local level through the recruitment and retention of volunteer resources to provide quick response when the safety of the public or its property is at risk.”
“Following consultation with communities throughout the region, a number of areas have been identified where additional resources would enable the regional district to provide a more effective and robust emergency preparedness service,” said Dave Leitch, CAO of the Strathcona Regional District. “This includes the occasional purchase of minor capital items such as containers for emergency supplies and portable emergency radio equipment.”
Other improvements include additional emergency support services and emergency communications team volunteers, sustainable emergency backup coverage, enhanced Emergency Operations Centre capacity, enhanced emergency communications infrastructure, and pre-disaster convergent volunteer management.
For more information on the Strathcona Emergency Program visit, strathconard.ca/preparedness