North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas says the province’s plan to start charging certain municipalities the costs of 911 dispatching services is going to hurt his resource-based community.
The mayor said his region is already wrestling with the rising costs of providing services and infrastructure amid the looming threat of punishing U.S. tariffs on lumber.
“This is a particularly bad year for North Cowichan to absorb a major cost download from senior levels of government and I think a lot of my colleagues are in a very similar position,” he said Thursday.
Douglas was among mayors and councillors from 10 south Island municipalities who took to the steps of the legislature on Thursday to tell the provincial government it isn’t fair they have to start paying for E-Comm services when some other local governments continue to have the costs covered by the provincial and federal governments.
Starting April 1, the mayors say the downloaded costs will impose a “significant financial burden” for property owners, with a collective bill of $4.9 million that will require tax increases ranging between 2.7% and 6% for the 10 municipalities.
The south Island municipalities have RCMP service and include Langford, Colwood, Metchosin, View Royal, Sooke, Sidney, North Saanich, Duncan and Ladysmith.
About 40 other B.C. municipalities still have dispatch services paid for entirely by the provincial and federal governments in a 70/30 split, because they are dispatched through a provincial operational communications centre. But other municipalities on the south Island, including Victoria and Saanich, have their 911 dispatching services through E-Comm, which is owned by member municipalities, police boards and provincial and federal agencies.
In 2021, the province announced it will no longer pay for the costs of police dispatch for E-Comm users starting in 2025. The offloading of the costs is set to begin on April 1 despite repeated appeals from local governments, who say it comes in addition to other financial pressures, including inflation, aging infrastructure, increased service expectations, new provincial mandates for housing and ongoing downloaded costs associated with health and social issues.
The mayors said in a statement the download is “unacceptable unless the costs are applied equally across British Columbia, phased in appropriately and accompanied by demonstrable value from E-Comm’s dispatch services.”
View Royal estimates its costs for 911 dispatch will be $229,000 this year and $319,000 in 2026 — or $90 for the average household.
In Sidney, the town is estimating a first-year impact of $262,500, and a full-year cost in 2026 at $360,000.
Colwood has budgeted $399,000 to fund its portion of E-Comm services this year and $561,000 next year, and it will cost Ladysmith $221,000, which translates to a 2.6% tax increase this year.
Sooke is paying $254,927 this year, which means a 2% property tax hike, and $340,000 next year, for a 2.7%, property tax hike.
Langford is one of the hardest hit because of its population and number of calls. Mayor Scott Goodmanson said the city will be on the hook for $1.5 million this year, representing a 2.7% tax increase for property owners, and $2.1 million in the years that follow — a 2% tax hit every year.
North Cowichan is wrestling with an 8.4% increase in property taxes, but that’s likely to climb, as 911 services will add $700,000 to the budget this year and about $1 million in 2026.
“Just maintaining our core services is getting more and more expensive. What makes it really frustrating is a decision like the downloading of police dispatch services is beyond our control,” said Douglas.
Compounding the problem are questions around the future of North Cowichan’s major industries. The Catalyst pulp mill in Crofton and three Western Forest Products lumber facilities are the major taxpayers and largest employers.
With the U.S. threatening major tariffs on Canadian goods as early as this weekend, Douglas is worried.
“There is a lot of uncertainty in the forestry sector,” he said. “We are concerned that if we lose one or both of those companies, there’s going to be major repercussions with our residents and tax base.”
Metchosin Mayor Marie-Terese Little said the province should mandate a levy on all cellphone users to offset 911 costs. “They do it in Alberta, Newfoundland, Quebec, Nova Scotia. We’ve been told the levy is complex, but other provinces have been able to solve that.”
The province is conducting a review of E-Comm’s operational and financial transparency and performance.
Public Safety Minister Garry Begg announced the review in December, but gave no timeline for its findings. The municipalities are scheduled to meet with the ministry on Tuesday.
“There’s room to collaborate here,” said Tobias. “Why do 10 mayors have to stand on the front steps of the legislature to get our point across? I think collaboration around protective services and health care should be part of what we do with the province, but unfortunately in this case it’s not.”
Langford Coun. Keith Yacucha said by downloading 911 costs, the province is double dipping.
“We’re still paying provincial income tax to fund a provincial 911 operation centre and now on top of it we’re going to be funding our own E-Comm on our property taxes,” said Yacucha.
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
