A water rate increase by the Capital Regional District may be dripping down the pipe, as the board prepares for its 2016 budget.
If the proposal goes through, the water rate will run at $0.6375 per cubic meter, effective Jan. 1. This is a 1.93 per cent increase over the 2015 rate.
All that trickles to around $2.84 for an average household using 235 cubic meters of water per year, the CRD says.
Each year the Regional Water Supply Commission determines its rates based on the money needed to deliver services, maintain, repair and update existing infrastructure.
Ironically, the hike also comes due to the fact that many locals conserve their water, particularly in the summer months, which leaves demand trailing behind.
Still, where does this increase leave Sooke residents?
Mayor Maja Tait said she’d like to see how this water fee hike will impact Sooke residents, especially the local farming community who rely on water for various purposes.
“When it [the proposal] is piecemeal it’s hard to see how that impact is going to be, so you want to see the entire budget, what’s planned, and see how it will hit every each individual household and business,” she said.
Tait appointed Coun. Rick Kasper as commissioner and Coun. Brenda Parkinson as his alternate on the Regional Water Supply Commission in order to make recommendations for the CRD board as it mulls through its budget process.