Cowichan Valley Regional District is increasing the annual requisition limit for fire services in Electoral Area H.
The CVRD board approved a recommendation received from the Electoral Area Services Committee to prepare a bylaw increasing the maximum limit by 25 per cent.
Currently, the requisition limit is the greater of $394,340 or 0.87999/1000 of net taxable value. For 2017 that figure worked out to be $443,774.
Under the new bylaw the limit will increase to $554,472.
According to a staff report, the ongoing construction of North Oyster’s new fire hall requires more funding to service debt repayments.
Emergency Program Coordinator Sybille Sanderson told the Electoral Area Service Committee at its Dec. 20 meeting that the new building is “desperately needed” and will likely completed in 2018.
“It’s a concern on our part working within the budget that we have right now…,” she said. “This would just ease that slightly to make it a little more available to us when we need to finish completion of the building next year (2018).”
The North Oyster Fire Protection requisition limit hasn’t increased since February 2012. Volunteer firefighters are on call 24/7/365.
CVRD staff noted that operating reserves for fire protection are $184,502, while capital reserves are $1,119,718.