The audited 2017 Financial Statement for Oak Bay illustrates the need for improved explanations as how funds have been used.
Oak Bay’s total budget is $41.5 million; staff salaries of $22.7 million consume almost all property taxes of $23.6M. Indeed, salaries consume an ever increasing portion of municipal budgets. CFIB states that municipal wage growth in Victoria increased 39 per cent from 2005 to 2015; yet inflation increased 11 per cent. Could this be why taxes for my average-valued property increased 44 per cent in nine years? This trend is unsustainable. It calls for an audit to rationalize and prioritize Oak Bay’s operations and get costs under control.
Secondly, Note 11 in the report is baffling. It lists transfers to and from “reserves” and “own funds” in both Expenses and Revenues without explanation. Together with Capital Expenses and Debt Repayments, it all results in a 2017 “surplus” of $5.1 million. Huh?
This “surplus” is equivalent to almost 25 per cent of Oak Bay’s property tax revenues (roughly 12 per cent of the whole budget). How did council allocate this “surplus”? If carried over, why have our taxes gone up 4.65 per cent?
The district also has $45 million in investments and $20 million for “Capital Works Reserve Funds”. Just what is this $20 million for? Why do these funds languish while infrastructure decays?
I’m not an accountant; neither are most Oak Bay taxpayers. These examples demand plainly written explanations, as to where our taxes are going. Replace pie-charts on our tax notice with lists of planned expenditures and and actual costs.
Taxpayers are being taunted with rate increases of 4 to 5 per cent every year. It is clear: Oak Bay needs a serious operational audit and a more transparent financial report.
Rick Lee
Oak Bay