
Rural residents are getting a tax break over the next three years thanks to nearly $1 million in reserve funds the Thompson-Nicola Regional District voted to empty into electoral area budgets on Thursday.
The TNRD’s 10 rural area directors brought forward a motion asking the board as a whole approve returning the Community Assistance Reserve funds to their respective Electoral Area recreation budgets over a three-year period, starting this year.
The board approved the motion unanimously.
Returning these reserve dollars will offset the taxation in each Electoral Area by varying amounts in 2025, 2026 and 2027.
The added dollars will make for smaller tax increases in six electoral areas of the TNRD for 2025. In four areas there will be slight tax reductions compared to 2024 — Area A, E, I and M, in which there will be decreases of 0.01, 2.6, 1.2 and 1.3 per cent.
The combined value of all 10 Community Assistance Reserves is $989,407 with amounts by Electoral Area varying between about $35,000 and $198,000. Those amounts will be split in to three equal chunks and vary by how much each EA collected.
Since 2017 the dollars have remained in each reserve and have accrued interest.
According to TNRD staff, the Community Assistance Reserve Funds were created in 2017 to collect taxes for capital costs of any future park projects.
The TNRD rescinded the policy in 2023 as the Ministry of Municipal Affairs determined the policy contravened the Local Government Act.
Area M (Beautiful Nicola Valley-North) director David Laird told the board rural directors voted unanimously to bring forward the motion to use the reserves.
"We felt that, because of what the [ministry] said, that there was an inappropriate collection of tax, that we felt we needed to return it to the taxpayers where it was taken from," Laird said.
TNRD chief financial officer Carla Fox said electoral areas' tax bills show a “menu of different services” they pay for each year and these reserve dollars will now reduce those bills over the next three years.
“Basically, everybody will get a reduction on their taxes owing because we've used the reserve funds to make sure they don't have to pay as much tax. Essentially, they're getting a refund on their tax bill, but it's absorbed in reducing the amount you owe,” Fox told Castanet Kamloops.
The dollars for electoral areas were not collected from municipalities and will not help lessen the amount of taxes municipalities are paying in the TNRD.
Fox said all board members of the TNRD were still required to vote on the motion because all directors are part of the board.
Kamloops tax increase under three per cent
Meanwhile, in Kamloops, regional district taxes are currently estimated to rise by about 2.6 per cent over 2024. That number is down from the eight per cent increase for Kamloops that was projected in the initial 2025 draft budget last fall.
Overall the global tax rate increase for TNRD taxes is currently pegged at a 4.2 per cent increase over 2024 thanks to the use of these reserves and a some other budgetary belt tightening by the regional district. Between the draft and provisional budgets seen this past December, the global tax increase had already been reduced from 8.5 to 7.8 per cent.
Fox said the final tax increase number will be known in March once the revised BC Assessment roll comes out in March, and, while TNRD taxes are going up as a whole, overall, it looks like residential tax rates are going down.
“It looks like residents' taxes, all across the board, are going down a little bit because there's growth, and the other classes are paying a little bit more,” Fox said. “It looks favourable right now for us.”
Community Assistance Reserve Fund amount to be returned to TNRD Recreation Budget (equally in 2025, 2026, and 2027):
Electoral Area “A” $64,772
Electoral Area “B” $73,745
Electoral Area “E” $198,528
Electoral Area “I” $98,478
Electoral Area “J” $35,388
Electoral Area “L” $124,601
Electoral Area “M” $148,012
Electoral Area “N” $52,702
Electoral Area “O” $60,455
Electoral Area “P” $132,725