2025 Draft Budget & Financial Plan

Thank you to those who attended our open houses! If you've not taken the opportunity to ask your questions about the budget, please use our Q&A feature below. This will be available until February 18th. All questions/responses will be relayed to Council for the February 18th council meeting and third reading of the proposed budget.

Mark your calendar, the Budget Open Houses will be held:

Jan 28, 2025, 5pm - 8pm, George Eliott Secondary School
February 6, 2025, 3pm - 6pm, Municipal Hall Council Chambers

We hope you will participate in person and take the opportunity to speak with District staff. The material shown at the open houses is available on this page under 'Reference Documents' on the right side toolbar. This also includes the proposed five-year financial plan which includes the 2025 budget.

Council looks to ensure stable tax rates for residents over next several years

On Tuesday December 3rd beginning at 5:30 pm Council will consider the five-year financial plan (2025-2029) which includes the 2025 budget.

As the District navigates cost pressures in areas such as policing, transit and infrastructure, Council is focused on balancing the need to address rising operational costs, continuing to improve and invest in existing services and infrastructure while minimizing the impact on taxpayers. The proposed budget outlines an increase of 6.45% on the municipal, policing and fire portion of taxes, reflecting Council’s commitment to meeting the District’s financial needs without placing excessive burdens on the community.
Top of Form

A 1% tax increase translates to approximately $223,000 in revenue. The impact of the proposed 6.45% property tax increase to Lake Country property owners would be approximately a $178 yearly increase (or $15 monthly increase) on a single-family home assessed at $1 million.

Get Involved!

As 2025 budget deliberations start on Tuesday evening, it is important that everyone get involved and let Council know your thoughts on the proposed budget. Budget details can be found at Let's Talk - Lake Country. Review the information and leave your questions/comments on the official webpage. Staff will ensure that all feedback received from the community on the 2025 draft budget is relayed to Council prior to adoption of the five-year financial plan.

Mark your calendar –Community Open Houses will be held January 28 and Feb 6, 2025. We hope you will participate in person and take the opportunity to speak with staff, Mayor and Councillors. Stay informed as more content is published.

Important to note – aside from District official social media channels (Facebook and Instagram) – staff do not regularly monitor comments or conversations on external pages and groups.

Mark your calendar, the Budget Open Houses will be held:

Jan 28, 2025, 5pm - 8pm, George Eliott Secondary School
February 6, 2025, 3pm - 6pm, Municipal Hall Council Chambers

Council looks to ensure stable tax rates for residents over next several years

On Tuesday December 3rd beginning at 5:30 pm Council will consider the five-year financial plan (2025-2029) which includes the 2025 budget.

Get Involved!

Important to note – aside from District official social media channels (Facebook and Instagram) – staff do not regularly monitor comments or conversations on external pages and groups.

Questions?

Questions

Have a question and/or comment about the draft 2025 budget? Ask your question and staff will try to get back to you as soon as possible. All questions and comments will be relayed to Council prior to the February 18th Special Council Meeting to review the budget.

Share Budget details can be found at Let's Talk - Lake Country. NOT FOUND how can we ask questions of a proposed budget for 2025 when we can't find it?? please post a direct link to the budget on Facebook Share Budget details can be found at Let's Talk - Lake Country. NOT FOUND how can we ask questions of a proposed budget for 2025 when we can't find it?? please post a direct link to the budget on Twitter Share Budget details can be found at Let's Talk - Lake Country. NOT FOUND how can we ask questions of a proposed budget for 2025 when we can't find it?? please post a direct link to the budget on Linkedin Email Budget details can be found at Let's Talk - Lake Country. NOT FOUND how can we ask questions of a proposed budget for 2025 when we can't find it?? please post a direct link to the budget link

Budget details can be found at Let's Talk - Lake Country. NOT FOUND how can we ask questions of a proposed budget for 2025 when we can't find it?? please post a direct link to the budget

notadroptodrink asked 12 days ago

The proposed budget is located on this page under 'Documents' and is titled '2025-2029 Draft Financial Plan'.
Share With new proposal of 604 unit apartment complex. Will there be talks with city of Kelowna for shared revenue, as the residents would likely be using some of our assets and infrastructure? Ie policing/fire, roads... on Facebook Share With new proposal of 604 unit apartment complex. Will there be talks with city of Kelowna for shared revenue, as the residents would likely be using some of our assets and infrastructure? Ie policing/fire, roads... on Twitter Share With new proposal of 604 unit apartment complex. Will there be talks with city of Kelowna for shared revenue, as the residents would likely be using some of our assets and infrastructure? Ie policing/fire, roads... on Linkedin Email With new proposal of 604 unit apartment complex. Will there be talks with city of Kelowna for shared revenue, as the residents would likely be using some of our assets and infrastructure? Ie policing/fire, roads... link

With new proposal of 604 unit apartment complex. Will there be talks with city of Kelowna for shared revenue, as the residents would likely be using some of our assets and infrastructure? Ie policing/fire, roads...

Danwoods asked 14 days ago

Hello,

Thank you for your question. The majority of this project is currently within the Lake Country boundary and the City of Kelowna is currently in the process of transferring the remaining part of the property to Lake Country, therefore the property will pay Lake Country taxes.

Thank you,
District of Lake Country
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What is council doing to address the inequity of service between communities?

Coral Beach asked 16 days ago

Operating & Capital budgets are prepared with the entire District in mind. The District has a ward system where each of the 4 wards has a ward Councillor in addition to the Mayor and 2 Councillors at large. This helps ensure that each ward has specific representation but also that the best interests of the entire community are served.
Share What other options has council come up with to generate revenue instead of lazily increasing taxes? What cost saving measures is council proposing to reduce residential taxes? on Facebook Share What other options has council come up with to generate revenue instead of lazily increasing taxes? What cost saving measures is council proposing to reduce residential taxes? on Twitter Share What other options has council come up with to generate revenue instead of lazily increasing taxes? What cost saving measures is council proposing to reduce residential taxes? on Linkedin Email What other options has council come up with to generate revenue instead of lazily increasing taxes? What cost saving measures is council proposing to reduce residential taxes? link

What other options has council come up with to generate revenue instead of lazily increasing taxes? What cost saving measures is council proposing to reduce residential taxes?

Coral Beach asked 16 days ago
Municipalities such as the District of Lake Country must follow provincial legislation which has limited revenue streams available however the District does always explore what’s available both from the revenue generation side and the cost savings side, here are some recent examples and initiatives:
- Significant initiative and planning are going into trying to develop the Lake Country Business Park which would diversify the tax base, increasing the amount of business and light industrial tax revenue to the District and offset the residential tax burden
- Fees for services are set and reviewed regularly to try and achieve cost recovery in multiple areas such as planning, building, development, engineering etc. (worth noting though that local governments are only able to set fees to recover costs and cannot “profit” to further offset tax revenue).
- Development Cost Charges are being increased to ensure that developers pay their fair share and don’t create additional burden on existing taxpayers.
- A dedicated grant writer has been hired to help pursue significant capital and operating grants
- All general ledger accounts are reviewed annually to look for potential savings and are refined to only provide levels of service as set by Council and nothing more
- Partnerships with other government agencies, regional districts, municipalities, First Nations etc. to achieve cost sharing where possible.
- Bulk buying with other governments on commonly purchased items to achieve economies of scale with larger purchases through group procurement.
Share Why do you have to empty the garbage cans on weekends and holidays? Do you pay overtime or double overtime for the work? I saw this work on Sundays but I saw it again on January 1st. Was it necessary or just wasting money? What was the hourly wage for the person who was working on 1st of January? We are not happy for the tax increases again so we wanted to be sure you not wasting money. on Facebook Share Why do you have to empty the garbage cans on weekends and holidays? Do you pay overtime or double overtime for the work? I saw this work on Sundays but I saw it again on January 1st. Was it necessary or just wasting money? What was the hourly wage for the person who was working on 1st of January? We are not happy for the tax increases again so we wanted to be sure you not wasting money. on Twitter Share Why do you have to empty the garbage cans on weekends and holidays? Do you pay overtime or double overtime for the work? I saw this work on Sundays but I saw it again on January 1st. Was it necessary or just wasting money? What was the hourly wage for the person who was working on 1st of January? We are not happy for the tax increases again so we wanted to be sure you not wasting money. on Linkedin Email Why do you have to empty the garbage cans on weekends and holidays? Do you pay overtime or double overtime for the work? I saw this work on Sundays but I saw it again on January 1st. Was it necessary or just wasting money? What was the hourly wage for the person who was working on 1st of January? We are not happy for the tax increases again so we wanted to be sure you not wasting money. link

Why do you have to empty the garbage cans on weekends and holidays? Do you pay overtime or double overtime for the work? I saw this work on Sundays but I saw it again on January 1st. Was it necessary or just wasting money? What was the hourly wage for the person who was working on 1st of January? We are not happy for the tax increases again so we wanted to be sure you not wasting money.

TIBOR asked about 1 month ago

Hello TIBOR,
Certain District areas require hours outside of the typical Monday – Friday 8:30am – 4:30pm schedule to provide necessary services. To accommodate this and provide best value for taxpayers, departments such as facilities, parks, sewer, roads, fire, and utilities normal work patterns include weekend operations at regular rates (not overtime).
Thank you,
Caitlin

Just a follow up on my previous question regarding traffic fine revenue. With an average cost of $138 per speeding ticket (some being much more than this) and an officer writing two tickets per day, should income not be at least $100,000? I recognize that there are many, many other more emergent issues within the district that officers must focus on but this seems like an area where if taxpayers in Lake Country are fronting more of the costs, that the district should be able to generate revenue to support operations costs and increased staffing. I don't want to see the district become a police state but it can be more safe with speeding on the highway corridor as well as our side streets (particularly near schools) and reduction in impaired drivers.

Morgan asked 2 months ago

Hello Morgan,

Our traffic fine revenue is actually based on a formula in legislation. The total net traffic fine revenue for the province gets divided up based on total policing costs. So as our policing costs increase (which they have been significantly) our share will also go up. It is not based on the tickets directly issued in the area.

Local Government Grants Regulations

Division 4 — Traffic Fine Revenue Sharing
Traffic fine revenue sharing

8.1 The amount that a municipality may receive to help defray the cost of local police enforcement for a calendar year is calculated as follows:

amount =

TPC

------

APC

× App

where
APC	=	the aggregate municipal policing costs for municipal policing in British Columbia as published for the calendar year by the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General;
App	=	the annual appropriation for the calendar year for the Traffic Fine Revenue Sharing Program;
TPC	=	the total policing costs for the calendar year for the municipality as accepted and published by the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

[en. B.C. Reg. 135/99, s. 5; am. B.C. Regs. 27/2013, Sch. 2, s. 3; 99/2018, Sch. 2, s. 9.]

Share With the District of Lake Country increasing taxes to support RCMP is there an associated increase in traffic fine revenue expected? I do see protective services revenue increasing from 2024 and into 2025 but it is not separated the same way that the expenditures are... on Facebook Share With the District of Lake Country increasing taxes to support RCMP is there an associated increase in traffic fine revenue expected? I do see protective services revenue increasing from 2024 and into 2025 but it is not separated the same way that the expenditures are... on Twitter Share With the District of Lake Country increasing taxes to support RCMP is there an associated increase in traffic fine revenue expected? I do see protective services revenue increasing from 2024 and into 2025 but it is not separated the same way that the expenditures are... on Linkedin Email With the District of Lake Country increasing taxes to support RCMP is there an associated increase in traffic fine revenue expected? I do see protective services revenue increasing from 2024 and into 2025 but it is not separated the same way that the expenditures are... link

With the District of Lake Country increasing taxes to support RCMP is there an associated increase in traffic fine revenue expected? I do see protective services revenue increasing from 2024 and into 2025 but it is not separated the same way that the expenditures are...

Morgan asked 2 months ago

Hi Morgan,
We are budgeting for $98,000 of traffic fine revenue, up from budget of $84,000 in 2024. Adding additional officers does not necessarily correspond with a direct increase in this area, as based on the RCMP organizational chart the different positions do specialize in different areas. That being said with increased emphasis on traffic safety the traffic fine revenue is trending slightly up.
Thank you for your question.
Share Is there a document that identifies every expenditure made by the DLC? This would normally be a spreadsheet like an Income Statement or Profit-and-Loss statement. Is it possible to review every single expenditure made by the DLC to identify exactly where the money goes? For instance, for all the "administration charges" listed in the draft, is it possible to identify who is paid for these services? on Facebook Share Is there a document that identifies every expenditure made by the DLC? This would normally be a spreadsheet like an Income Statement or Profit-and-Loss statement. Is it possible to review every single expenditure made by the DLC to identify exactly where the money goes? For instance, for all the "administration charges" listed in the draft, is it possible to identify who is paid for these services? on Twitter Share Is there a document that identifies every expenditure made by the DLC? This would normally be a spreadsheet like an Income Statement or Profit-and-Loss statement. Is it possible to review every single expenditure made by the DLC to identify exactly where the money goes? For instance, for all the "administration charges" listed in the draft, is it possible to identify who is paid for these services? on Linkedin Email Is there a document that identifies every expenditure made by the DLC? This would normally be a spreadsheet like an Income Statement or Profit-and-Loss statement. Is it possible to review every single expenditure made by the DLC to identify exactly where the money goes? For instance, for all the "administration charges" listed in the draft, is it possible to identify who is paid for these services? link

Is there a document that identifies every expenditure made by the DLC? This would normally be a spreadsheet like an Income Statement or Profit-and-Loss statement. Is it possible to review every single expenditure made by the DLC to identify exactly where the money goes? For instance, for all the "administration charges" listed in the draft, is it possible to identify who is paid for these services?

EA asked 2 months ago

Hello,

Page 24 of our audited financial statements shows the statement of operations and accumulated surplus for 2023 (aka income statement/profit & loss). Schedule 3 (starting on page 66) breaks it down by department for further detail.
2023 District of Lake Country Annual Report by Lake Country - Issuu

Regarding “who is paid for these services” - the Statement of Financial Information shows a detailed listing of wages. Any changes to 2025 are highlighted in the budget supplemental operating request forms in the budget package. This also details how much was paid to all vendors/suppliers who received over $25,000.
2023 FIA.xlsx

Thank you
Share The province collects monies from the speculation tax (starting n 2025). How much money is expected to be collected from Lake Country residents and how much of this money does Lake Country get back in the form of grants, support etc ? on Facebook Share The province collects monies from the speculation tax (starting n 2025). How much money is expected to be collected from Lake Country residents and how much of this money does Lake Country get back in the form of grants, support etc ? on Twitter Share The province collects monies from the speculation tax (starting n 2025). How much money is expected to be collected from Lake Country residents and how much of this money does Lake Country get back in the form of grants, support etc ? on Linkedin Email The province collects monies from the speculation tax (starting n 2025). How much money is expected to be collected from Lake Country residents and how much of this money does Lake Country get back in the form of grants, support etc ? link

The province collects monies from the speculation tax (starting n 2025). How much money is expected to be collected from Lake Country residents and how much of this money does Lake Country get back in the form of grants, support etc ?

Hare asked 2 months ago

Hello,
Thank you for your question. The speculation and vacancy tax is administered by the Province. Local governments do not collect the funds from the provincially run program. Please find more information here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/speculation-vacancy-tax
Thank you
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Where is a copy of the budget? I would like to see it

Sandra asked 2 months ago

Hello Sandra,
Of course, please find the draft budget on the Let's Talk page under '2025-2029 Draft Financial Plan'. This is located on the right hand side of the page and is available as a PDF document.
Thank you

Page last updated: 11 Feb 2025, 02:59 PM

2025 Draft Budget & Financial Plan

Questions

Budget details can be found at Let's Talk - Lake Country. NOT FOUND how can we ask questions of a proposed budget for 2025 when we can't find it?? please post a direct link to the budget

With new proposal of 604 unit apartment complex. Will there be talks with city of Kelowna for shared revenue, as the residents would likely be using some of our assets and infrastructure? Ie policing/fire, roads...

What is council doing to address the inequity of service between communities?

What other options has council come up with to generate revenue instead of lazily increasing taxes? What cost saving measures is council proposing to reduce residential taxes?

With the District of Lake Country increasing taxes to support RCMP is there an associated increase in traffic fine revenue expected? I do see protective services revenue increasing from 2024 and into 2025 but it is not separated the same way that the expenditures are...

The province collects monies from the speculation tax (starting n 2025). How much money is expected to be collected from Lake Country residents and how much of this money does Lake Country get back in the form of grants, support etc ?

Where is a copy of the budget? I would like to see it

Who's Listening

Reference Documents

Key Dates

Important Links