The Town is updating its asset management planning by implementing asset management software that will provide improved asset management tracking and assist in providing regular updates on the Town’s progress towards long-term sustainability of the community’s assets and services. Following on this will be work towards setting standards on infrastructure levels of service and other benchmarks and performance indicators.
Infrastructure Renewal Fund
The Infrastructure Renewal Fund came about from the 2023 Asset Management Study which determined that the Town of Comox was not setting aside sufficient funds to replace their existing infrastructure assets. Infrastructure assets include roads, sidewalks, storm drains, water and sewer pipes, facilities such as the fire hall and recreation centre, properties leased to community groups, including the museum and seniors centre, and administrative facilities. The amount is approximately $52 for the average residential property and varies by the assessed value.
The study recommended establishing and funding an infrastructure renewal fund through annual levies on property owners. The Province requires the funds to be collected from the general tax base based on assessed value. Due to this, the levy is collected similar to general municipal property taxes and is subject to the property tax multiplier. This means that different classes of properties pay higher multiples of the infrastructure Renewal Fund levy in the same proportion as different classes of properties pay higher multiples of the general property taxation amount.
The levy was set to collect approximately $370,000 in the first year (2024), and that amount would increase by approximately $370,000 each year for the following 9 years until the amount collected annually is approximately $3,700,000 in 2033. The chart below illustrates the increased amount and the approximate cost per property in each property tax class, based on the number of properties in each class as of 2024. This amount or the total amount can vary annually as the number of properties changes due to growth or redevelopment. Over time, there will be updates to the Asset Management Plan, which will determine if adjustments need to be made to the required amount of funds based on changes in the cost of construction, growth pattern changes, and changes to service levels.
Forecasted Infrastructure Renewal Levy
