The Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake currently has over $3.8 million in its reserve funds, which are set aside by municipalities for capital projects or to offset financial risk.

But is $3.8 million enough for a municipality of almost 3000 people? And is 亚洲天堂 Lake doing enough to grow its reserve funds?

Earlier this year, the village told Lakes District 亚洲天堂 that a contribution of over $400,000, which was 鈥渁bove council鈥檚 goal,鈥� had been made to the village鈥檚 reserves in 2017.

鈥淥ver recent years, the village has set significant target reserve contribution levels that we feel are sufficient for future funding needs,鈥� said 亚洲天堂 Lake Mayor Chris Beach earlier this year. 鈥淲e have been able to meet these contribution levels every year.鈥�

However, after a closer look at the village鈥檚 finances, it鈥檚 clear that 亚洲天堂 Lake actually went backwards in 2017. While the village did in fact deposit $402,079 to its reserve funds, plus $328,289 that originated from Comfor, between 2016 and 2017 the village withdrew $771,483 for current projects, setting the village back $41,115.

And although the village has committed to depositing approximately $244,000 to its reserve funds each year, the municipality鈥檚 reserves have actually been decreasing in the past five years. In 2012, 亚洲天堂 Lake鈥檚 reserve funds were sitting at approximately $5.6 million - nearly $1.8 million less than the amount in there today.

According to Sheryl Worthing, Chief Administrative Officer for the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake, the village鈥檚 main expense in the past five years was the $2.4 million for the Lakeside Multiplex, which was built in 2014.

Nevertheless, 亚洲天堂 Lake has not been significantly raising taxes to offset some of these expenses. Since 2012, the highest tax rate increase in 亚洲天堂 Lake was one per cent. The 2017 budget reflected a zero per cent increase in taxation rates for both businesses and residences.

Earlier this year, 亚洲天堂 Lake councillor Kelly Holliday said that not raising taxes has not been good for the municipality.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e only raising taxes to one per cent, or not raising them at all, we鈥檙e getting behind,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 making it very difficult for us to save money for future projects or to replace infrastructure or repair infrastructure as it breaks.鈥�

Lakes District 亚洲天堂 also asked a couple of nearby municipalities how much money they had in their reserve funds. Houston, a municipality of similar size, was sitting at $3.9 million at the end of 2016 while Smithers, a city of over 5000 people, was sitting at $8.19 million.

According to the provincial government, B.C. legislation does not specify a recommended balance of reserve funds that local governments should or must hold.

鈥淗ow much a local government chooses to hold in reserves is a financial and political decision of the democratically elected council of each municipality,鈥� explained Lisa Leslie, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. 鈥淚t is their fiduciary duty to ensure sound financial planning for their taxpayers and reserve funds form a part of the financial planning framework.鈥�