Staff to Introduce Draft 2024 Budget on February 28th Before Council Conducts Service Level Review

The District of Sooke is pleased to announce that the draft 2024 budget will be introduced to Council on Wednesday, February 28, 2024. At this meeting, Council will receive the draft budget before proceeding with service-level deliberations at a subsequent meeting, in response to the proposed tax increase. Both meetings, as with all public Council sessions, will be live-streamed and recorded. The public is also welcome to attend and listen to the conversation.

The proposed budget takes what we heard from residents through the Annual Budget Survey and outlines investment opportunities to best respond to the community’s needs that are in line with approved planning documents, such as the Official Community Plan, Transportation Master Plan, Fire Rescue Services Master Plan, and the Parks and Trails Master Plan.

Public comment on the budget can be emailed to budget@sooke.ca and a Community Open House will be held after initial Council deliberations and before the budget is adopted. It is currently anticipated that the open house will be scheduled for late March/early April. Best efforts will be made to schedule the event over an extended period when both persons working in Sooke and those who commute can attend.

“The District’s open budget process begins with our residents,” says Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Finance, Raechel Gray. “We appreciate seeing the increased involvement from the community year after year, and cannot emphasize enough how resident voices lay the foundation for our budget. I look forward to engaging with the community once again at the open house, after Council’s deliberations.”

The upcoming meetings (introduction and service level review) will mark the third and fourth public meetings of the 2024 budget cycle: the first taking place in November when Council received the results of the annual budget survey and the second in December, with a presentation on an Asset Management Program.

Following the staff report on the draft budget, Council will provide direction on modifying the proposed service levels. Subsequently, staff will return to Council to present the budget for formal readings. Once the budget is preliminarily endorsed, the Budget Open House will occur before it is adopted.

What happens after the budget is adopted?

Following adoption, the District will receive third-party tax information in the spring, including tax rates for the Provincial School Tax, Capital Regional District, Hospitals, and Library Services. Notably, all fees are consolidated onto a single bill, streamlining the payment process for residents. In 2023, the municipal tax portion accounted for 44.1% of the residential tax bill in Sooke, with the majority collected on behalf of other agencies over which the District does not have direct control.

Once third-party tax information is received, the Tax Rate Bylaw will be presented to Council in May. Subsequently, property tax notices will be mailed out in late May or early June, with payments due by July 2, 2024.

As property taxes are collected, preparations for the 2025 budget will commence, with the Annual Budget Survey available from mid-June to mid-August. Residents will also have opportunities to connect with Council members and staff throughout the summer at various engagements, including local markets and community events.

The proposed tax increase for municipal services in Sooke being presented on Wednesday for Council discussion and subsequent deliberations, based on the average assessed residential household, currently sits at $15.43/month or $185.16 per year.