2022 Budget consultation

Consultation has concluded. Thank you for your feedback.

• RMOW shares plans and focus areas for 2022

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  Budget guidelines endorsed and projects aligned with Council focus areas

  Planning at the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is well underway for 2022 with projects identified and Budget Guidelines established to guide the organization into the year ahead and beyond.

  The RMOW Council and Senior Management Team held its annual retreat on December 8, where the group discussed progress on focus areas and key projects, identified priorities for 2022 and discussed emerging topics such as the 2030 Winter Olympic Games MOU. The RMOW was asked to join in signing the MOU by the Four Host First Nations: Lil’wat Nation, Squamish Nation, Musqueam Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

  “We know that COVID-19 continues to present unprecedented challenges to our community,” said Whistler Mayor Jack Crompton. “The 2022 Budget looks to address our community’s recovery while building resilience for future events. We continue to progress within our four focus areas —community balance, climate action, housing and pandemic recovery. We will continue to check in on projects aligned with these throughout the year.”

  Council endorsed guidelines for an operating budget of $101.5 million including a $48.5 million project budget at the December 21 Council meeting.

  The increase to general municipal taxes is 6.72 per cent and utilities parcel tax and user fees is 3 per cent each for sewer, water and solid waste.

  Property taxes contribute approximately 42 per cent of the funding the RMOW has to pay for roads, sewers, water and other municipal services such as fire and police and recreation. Another 22 per cent is utility taxes and fees, and18 per cent is made up of provincial funding sources such as the Municipal Regional District Tax (MRDT) and Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) Program—which can only be spent on provincially approved tourism initiatives. The remainder of the funding comes from user fees, charges, grants, and investment income.

  The RMOW plans its annual and five-year financial plans to manage day-to-day services, operations, projects, and infrastructure investments and to take into consideration the longer term strategy, challenges and vision for Whistler.

  While a substantial amount of the work done at the municipality is reflected through the ongoing operating budget, this year’s project budget has a strong focus on reserve reinvestment and community infrastructure. This focus includes continued major investments into community wildfire protection. New investments into water metering and electric vehicle charging stations are also in the plans.

  The Strategic Planning Committee will continue next year on its long-term community planning work, while RMOW subsidiaries Whistler Housing Authority and Whistler 2020 Development Corporation will continue with new employee housing initiatives such as the second phase of Cheakamus Crossing. The RMOW is set to meet and possibly exceed the goal of 1,000 new bed units for local employees that was set by the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing in 2016.

  Find more budget information at www.whistler.ca/budget

  Other components of the RMOW annual corporate planning cycle include the annual report, which is shared annually midway through the year, as well as quarterly financial updates, which are each shared with Council and the community on an ongoing basis.

• Residents invited to share ideas, questions and feedback on Budget 2022

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  New online portal provides more opportunities for community members to have their say

  Community members have a new online engagement portal to view to view 2022 Budget materials, presentations, frequently asked questions and videos and submit questions, ideas and feedback to Council and staff until December 21, 2021. A link to the new portal is available at whistler.ca/budget.

  
  

  The 2022 Budget Community Information Session was held at Maury Young Arts Centre on November 18, 2021 with presentations from Chief Administrative Officer Virginia Cullen and Director of Finance Carlee Price. A video of those presentations is now available online at www.whistler.ca/budget .

  “We are pleased to offer expanded online opportunities for the community to engage with our proposed budget for 2022,” said Mayor Jack Crompton. “This is Whistler’s budget. Council and staff rely on community feedback to set priorities and align our spending accordingly. I encourage everyone to take some time to visit whistler.ca/budget to connect with our new online portal, consider the budget we have presented and share their feedback.”

  The RMOW carefully plans its annual and five-year budgets to manage day-to-day services and operations, projects and infrastructure investments and to take into consideration the longer term strategy, challenges and vision for Whistler.

  The 2022 Budget proposes a 6.72 per cent increase to property tax fees. In 2021, Council passed a 1.08 per cent increase to property tax fees to provide relief to residents and business owners who were feeling the impacts of COVID-19. The initially proposed tax increase to fund the services the RMOW provides for 2021 was 4.89 per cent.

  At that time, staff shared with the community that one percent tax increases were not sustainable. The rising demand for services in Whistler and the requirement to maintain healthy reserve (savings) accounts to help pay for long-term infrastructure repair and replacement means that additional investment is required for the community to continue to thrive and to avoid this risk of significant increases to property taxes in the future.

  Following the Community Budget Information meeting, there will be further refinements of the proposed project and operating budgets to incorporate community feedback. Budget guidelines will be developed by staff to be presented at the December 21, 2021 Regular Council Meeting. The Five-Year Financial Plan Bylaw is tentatively scheduled for first three readings by Council on January 11, 2022 and adoption later that month. The Tax Rate Bylaws must be adopted before May 15, 2022. Property tax statements are mailed to homeowners in May.

  The RMOW annual budget helps to inform the annual Corporate Plan. Both documents are guided by the overall community vision and Official Community Plan (OCP) which was officially adopted in 2020. To ensure progress towards this vision, there are established key performance indicators on a wide variety of social, environmental, and economic factors. The annual Community Life Survey is one of the key ways that we check in with the community each year and results are incorporated into the monitoring program. To learn more, visit whistler.ca/monitoring.