March 6, 2024
Council approves 2024-2028 Financial Plan
Sidney, BC
Sidney’s 2024-2028 Financial Plan was adopted by Council following final budget deliberations on March 5th. It includes an operating budget of $28.9 million and a capital budget of $12.2 million for 2024. The general tax increase for the year has been set at 6.04%.
Each year, the Town’s budget covers a wide range of core services, including but not limited to the maintenance of roads, sidewalks, parks, and underground utilities that residents and businesses make use of daily. The Financial Plan also features an emphasis on environmental projects, climate adaptation, and active transportation, while maintaining the essential public safety services such as police and fire.
The proposed general tax increase in the draft Financial Plan, introduced to Council on February 5th, was 8.42%. Council was successful in reducing the general increase to 6.04%.
The Town was able to reduce the tax impact by funding a one-time cost through prior years’ surplus, deferring the annual contribution to one of its reserves, rejecting two requests for enhanced services, and using reserve funding for three new capital projects.
The impact on the average Residential property equates to approximately $102 for the year, or $8.50 per month.
“Council had a difficult task this year in trying to balance the maintenance of valuable community services with the need to keep costs down for residents and businesses facing ongoing cost pressures,” said Mayor McNeil-Smith. “The Town has also been impacted by inflation over the past two years, which has increased the cost of delivering services to the community. Through this Financial Plan, we have limited the tax impact as much as possible, while enhancing protective services for our growing community, and doing our part to meet ongoing housing and environmental challenges.”
The 2024-2028 Financial Plan is available for viewing.