The mayors from 10 South Vancouver Island municipalities, including North Cowichan, have been lobbying the provincial government since 2021 on the impending download of police dispatch costs to RCMP-served municipalities on the south island.
The mayors are sharing an open letter to Honourable Garry Begg, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General :
These fees are unique to the south island and are not implemented in other parts of B.C. These fees are significant and reflect a 2.7 to 6% increase to property taxes in 2025, which is compounded by the extraordinary impacts of inflation and infrastructure upgrades local governments are grappling with.
As the deadline to approve 2025 year budgets and to set property tax rates draws near, the mayors from these municipalities are pleading with the province to either cancel or pause this download.
Mayors from the 10 municipalities will be gathering on the steps of the B.C. Legislature on January 30, 2025 at 10am to speak with the media and supporters.
Contact information:
Colwood: Mayor Doug Kobayashi, mayor@colwood.ca
Duncan: Mayor Michelle Staples, mayor@duncan.ca
Ladysmith: Acting Mayor Tricia McKay, tmckay@ladysmith.ca
Langford: Mayor Scott Goodmanson, mayor@langford.ca
Metchosin: Mayor Marie-Terese Little, mtlittle@metchosin.ca
North Cowichan: Mayor Rob Douglas, mayor@northcowichan.ca
North Saanich: Mayor Peter Jones, pjones@northsaanich.ca
Sidney: Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith, mayor@sidney.ca
Sooke: Mayor Maja Tait, mtait@sooke.ca
View Royal: Mayor Sid Tobias, mayortobias@viewroyal.ca