No one disputes the need for a new operations centre in Saanich. What we are disputing is borrowing $150 million to fix the problem, and using an alternative approval process instead of a referendum.
A commentary by a Saanich resident.
Re: “Saanich needs to build its new operations centre,” letter, June 7.
Saanich Coun. Judy Brownoff’s letter on June 7 misses the point entirely.
No one is disputing the need for a new operations centre, and moving staff out of the aged trailers. What we are disputing is borrowing $150 million to fix the problem, and using an alternative approval process instead of a referendum.
Long-term councillor Brownoff states this site has been studied since 1998. She has been a councillor since 1993.
It’s been a generation since the “problem” was identified, which a new building would have solved. Now, borrowing $150 million is rolled into a total redevelopment of the current site — including constructing two 18-storey towers.
Some staff will be relocated to another site, which Saanich council already owns, having purchased it for $25 million, when the site was appraised at $17 million and assessed at $11.1 million. Hardly fiscally responsible.
The point of borrowing the $150 million is to build a massive, housing-density scheme at the Quadra-McKenzie intersection, as outlined in the Quadra-McKenzie Plan.
That huge development is only part of the plan, which proposes massive densification of a huge swath of Saanich, along with roadworks.
The plan directly affects 25,500 of Saanich’s residents, their property rights and their property values.
On a petition, 4,000 tax-paying Saanich property owners protested the plan as inappropriate and overreaching. The plan is being reviewed as we speak, due to citizen objections.
I am a Saanich resident. My 2025 property taxes have increased 15% from last year’s taxes.
If Saanich borrows $150 million (with, we have been told, $9 million carrying charges each year after), what will the future impact be on homeowners’ tax bills? What guarantee is there of keeping to $150 million?
Saanich has not proven its capability to stay within estimated construction costs. Witness the massive cost overrun on Saanich’s new fire hall, from $26.6 million to an estimated $44 million.
The point of this letter is to remind councillor Brownoff and the rest of Saanich council that borrowing $150 million under an AAP, without asking your voters for permission, is “taxation without representation.”
Saanich council has decided for all of us that an alternative approval process (proceeding with borrowing unless 10% of the electorate protests) is appropriate. It is not. Borrowing $150 million without taxpayer consent is undemocratic, not transparent and disrespectful to the citizens who voted them into their council positions.
Saanich citizens can stop this borrowing by filling out an elector response form and mailing it, or delivering it to Saanich Municipal Hall in person.
The form is on the Saanich website, but can be found on the Save Our Saanich website at: www.SaveOurSaanich.com.
Time is short: 8,735 valid Elector Response Forms have to be filled out and delivered by June 25.