The City of Fort St. John will use funding from the Peace River Agreement to balance its 2024 budget.
“Overall, administration is presenting to you a balanced budget, we’ve had some major challenges to address but we’re fortunate to have some financial mechanisms to mitigate and keep property tax increases significantly lower than that proposed by other similar-sized municipalities,” said David Joy, the city’s Chief Financial Officer.
At 77.7 percent or over $36 million, the agreement funding majorly contributes to the city’s capital expenses, supplementing funding for roads, water and sewer development, salaries and wages for their capital projects manager, and bylaw technicians.
“Over the past 15 years, the Peace River Agreement revenue has transformed the quality of life of this city with improved road quality, new facilities, and improvement of existing ones,” noted Joy.
Like many municipalities, Fort St. John is feeling the effects of inflation and supply chain issues, explained Joy. Property owners could still see a 4.25 per cent tax rate increase this year.
Capital projects to be completed this year include the 100th Street rebuild, and upgrades at Kin Park, with $46.57 million in capital spending proposed, the majority going towards road maintenance.
$1,295,000 of agreement funds were used in 2023 to balance the budget, and in 2024, $1,398,240 will be needed.
The Peace River Agreement is an evolution of the Fair Share agreement created by the Peace River Regional District and the province in 1994, capturing taxes from the oil and gas industry who operate outside municipal boundaries, ensuring value extracted from the region benefits the local communities.
The PRRD and Fort St. John signed the new agreement in 2015, alongside Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Hudson’s Hope, Pouce Coupe, Taylor, and Tumbler Ridge.
You can read the draft budget presentation here:
2024 Capital and Operating Budget Presentation by Tom Summer on Scribd
