Budget 2022

Each year City Council and City Staff work together to develop a budget and financial plan to guide where tax dollars, funding, and resources are allocated during the coming year. The City’s budget is guided by Council's strategic priorities, the need to maintain and replace our infrastructure and assets, and the needs and priorities expressed by the community.

Following four Special Budget Meetings held in early February, City of Fernie Council approved a Draft 2022 Budget on February 22 and is now seeking community input.

This year's budget will result in a 5 per cent tax increase for residential properties in Fernie.

For the average single-detached home in Fernie assessed at $620,000 this equates to approximately an additional $104 annually for the City portion of the tax bill.

The 2022 Budget focuses on maintaining the essential services that residents rely on the City to provide every day, while advancing key projects that are in line with Council’s strategic priorities, and preparing for costly critical infrastructure upgrades that will be facing the City in the coming years.

This year's budget was designed considering a number of key factors, including:

• Sustainable Service Delivery
• Improving Asset Management and responding to critical infrastructure needs
• No additions to existing service levels
• Key staffing additions to ensure we deliver on service levels we've committed to
• The ongoing impact of global pandemic
• Increase in uncontrollable costs, such as contracts, costs of materials, and insurance.
• Impact of annual repayment of short-term borrowing ($620,000 per year)
• Continued improvement in financial systems and practices.
• Preparing to address major critical infrastructure needs for the community

After taking into account projected revenues, the remaining shortfall to be addressed stood at $291,817 which is a gap that needs to be closed to bring forward a balanced budget as required by legislation.

Council approved the 3.9% tax increases required to cover this gap with taxation.

Council also asked staff to add an additional 1% tax increase to collect funds to set up and contribute to a reserve fund to support the creation of affordable housing and child care spaces.

The 2022 budget allows for key staffing additions to improve organizational efficiencies, resources to build/enhance our asset management policy/program, increased contributions to reserves.

In the 2022 Capital Plan money budgeted for the planning stages for significant upgrades to critical City infrastructure that is no longer meeting the needs of our community. These are multi-million-dollar projects that will be imperative to complete in the coming years to continue supplying essential services to our community.

• Key Infrastructure upgrades and remediation
  • C&L Right of Way (preventing failure of water and wastewater services located on an unstable slope)
  • New Protective Services Facility (moving the Fire Hall to a temporary new location)
  • Wastewater Treatment System (lagoon dredging and blower replacement)
  • Water Supply Improvements (formalizing long-term viability of the Fairy Creek Water Source)
• Drainage & Flood Protection initiatives including the Annex Dike Project
• Active Transportation Network Improvements including the Annex Dike Improvement Project and Section 1B of the Fernie Valley Pathway
  
• Upgrades to City-owned Facilities

The City of Fernie also will contribute $662,848 this year in discretionary funds toward arts, culture and community development by supporting the day-to-day operating and facility costs of community partners such as the Fernie Heritage Library and Seniors Drop-In Centre.

Learn More

Browse through the right-hand side of this page for:

• Budget at a Glance - providing an in-depth explanation of how the budget is constructed, a look at the projects we have planned for 2022, and a deep dive into the break down of city revenue and expenditure.
• Budget Slideshows & Reports - summarizing presentations made to Council.
• Budget Meeting Recordings - watch February's Special Meetings of Council to discuss Budget 2022.

Have Your Say

The City of Fernie's Draft 2022 Budget is now available for review.

Read through the Budget at a Glance document to understand this year's budget, browse through the presentations and resources available on the right-hand side of this page.

Fernie residents are invited to provide feedback on the proposed budget by:

• Completing the survey form below.
• Sending an email to letstalk@fernie.ca with the subject line "Budget 2022".
• Provide comments by mail or dropped off to City Hall - 501 3rd Avenue, Box 190, Fernie, B.C. V0B1M0
  
  

Public comments will be received until March 2, 2022 and presented to Council on March 7th.