Vernon taxpayers, your City Council just locked you into a 3-year deal with Coldstream, Electoral Area B and Electoral Area C — and you should know what they agreed to on your behalf.
The Active Living Centre costs $8M/year to operate. After revenues, there’s a $4.2M annual gap. Vernon taxpayers are covering that with a $4.9M draw from reserves AND property tax hikes of 1.5% every year through 2029 — just for recreation operations. And that $4.9M reserve draw doesn’t disappear — it has to be replenished by Vernon ratepayers down the road, adding even more to your bill.
By the time Vernon Taxpayers have finished all the cumulative tax increases already announced for the ALC, we will have gone up 18% for the debt and 5% for operating, for a total of 23% increase in our municipal property taxes solely related to the build and operations of the ALC.
Coldstream and the Electoral Areas’ combined contribution? Less than 22% of annual operating costs — for the ALC AND Kal Tire Place AND the Halina Centre AND two pools combined. Historically, neighbouring communities contributed around 35% of recreation costs because they make up 35% of the population of Greater Vernon. This new deal locks in a dramatic retreat from that — they pay less, you pay more.
This council borrowed $135 million to build a facility the entire region benefits from, then handed Coldstream and the Electoral Areas equal access at a price that doesn’t come close to reflecting actual costs, costs we don’t even fully know yet a deal is locked and done — and called it a win.
Coldstream and Electoral Area households pay none of these costs through property taxes. It’s also likely they won’t pay more to access the ALC now that they’ve inked this deal.
Now this deal is signed and locked until end of 2029. When it’s time to renegotiate, Coldstream and the Electoral Areas will almost certainly use this agreement as the baseline — making a fair deal harder, not easier, to achieve.
Municipal elections are October 17, 2026. The question Vernon taxpayers need to ask is simple: is this the council that’s looking out for you? Or is it time to elect one that will?