Water and sewer budgets are separate from the general operating budget. These budgets are meant to be self-funded through parcel tax (capital costs) and user fees (operational costs). Based on the current information on the cost of these services and without knowing the actual water consumption of the residents we are estimating the fees going forward. Once we have more data, through the universal water metering program, we will be able to refine those fees. Currently, based on our water production, it appears that Merritt residents are using 3-4 times the national per capita average. We do not have a valid reason for this extremely high-water usage. The implementation of water metres and the data we generate will help us to determine if all the water we are producing is being used by the residents or if there are losses in the system. Once we have this data, and address usage statistics through conservation and potential system loss repairs and upgrades, we may be able to find savings in both our water and sewer operations.

The City received a grant to purchase the water meters. We will install them at every residence and will monitor the water usage between the pumped system input and the end user consumption. This will enable the City to identify excess use versus system losses and initiate further conservation efforts or repairs and capital upgrades before we decide how to properly invoice for usage.

We have multiple wells, some working at maximum capacity and some working at only 2% capacity. With upper and lower aquifers, reservoirs, river dependency, we need the lower wells, in the deep aquifers to be running at a higher capacity, which is impacted by manganese levels in the aquifer. By designing and implementing a treatment system to reduce the manganese levels, we will have a greater water supply available to the community. It is important to acknowledge the ongoing drought conditions in the area and that water conservation is a global concern. We have a water licensing requirements set by the Province that we must adhere to. Many of our restrictions are related to the river dependency in the summer rather than our ability to draw water from our wells.

Post-flood work was conducted to ensure the plant was operational, but it is well past its life expectancy. Several issues that were very prevalent as a result of the flood need to be corrected in the plant to ensure the impacts of such an event in the future can be mitigated. The current processes need to be modernized to ensure that there is no failure in the near to distant future. We have also reached the capacity of the system so any more significant growth in the community will need a larger system.

This is based on the BC Assessment Roll and is the average of that roll for the City of Merritt.

General Government budget includes wages for the Director of Corporate Services/Corporate Officer, Committee Clerk, Communications and Engagement, and IT staff. Other expenses include advertising and marketing costs, software costs for all departments, and municipal election costs.

Unrestricted reserve means those monies in savings that are not allocated to a specific capital project or service category but can be used to finance any capital project.

Given that we can not control assessment values this is a challenging question to answer. If the assessment values drop in the current year, then we generate less revenue. If there is a large or sustained decrease in assessment values, then residents will have to decide between increases in taxes to maintain current levels of services or reducing levels of service to minimize tax increases. Reducing levels of service often means reducing staff and that some things may not happen as often, such as garbage pick up or mowing parks and sports fields, or closing facilities such as the pool or the arena.

No, there are 31 communities with higher tax rates as of 2024. It is important to note that when a Council elects not to raise taxes but maintain the level of service provided to residents, the funds must come from somewhere, and that typically means it comes from reserves. When we take money from reserves to fund operations, or do not put money into reserves, that means that we do not have funds available to properly repair, renew, or replace equipment and infrastructure, and it certainly leaves no funds available for new infrastructure. Typically, staff search for grants to offset the cost of infrastructure projects, but these grants usually require a 50% municipal co-pay. This means that if we have a $20 million-dollar project we have to have $10 million dollars of municipal funds available or we will not receive the funding.

Staffing levels must be grounded in the realities of service delivery and organizational complexity. The municipality is facing increased scrutiny, expanding legislation, and significantly greater reporting requirements tied to both daily operations and grant funding, often without corresponding increases in funding from senior levels of government. At the same time, staffing levels across the organization must be sufficient to maintain expected service standards.

While the City continuously seeks efficiencies in the use of staff resources—including leveraging grant funding to support key positions that cannot be sustained through operating funds alone—capacity pressures remain. As a complex organization, staffing decisions must also account for succession planning, recruitment, and retention, which require appropriate organizational levels to support long-term stability.

Comparisons with other municipalities are inherently limited, as staffing needs vary based on the level of service a community expects: lower service levels require fewer employees, while higher service expectations demand greater staffing capacity.

The number of Council members in a municipality may be established in letters patent or in a municipal bylaw. If neither apply, the number is established by legislation based on the population of a municipality; City’s or Districts with a population under 50,000 must have a mayor and six councillors. If we were a Town or Village we would be required to have a mayor and four councillors.

On December 15, 1964, the letters patent were amended to establish the Town of Merritt from the Village of Merritt; on May 14, 1980 the letters patent were amended again to establish the City of Merritt. Following the amendment of the letters patent in 1980 the City Council increased in size from one Mayor and 4 Councillors to one Mayor and six Councillors as per legislation.

If a Council wishes to change the number of Council members, it must pass a bylaw to establish the number of Council members; Council must receive the assent of the electors if it wishes to reduce the number of Council members. Council member remuneration is established by Bylaw 2266 which was adopted on August 27, 2019.

The annual rate for remuneration of the Mayor was established at $36,582 with an annual increase based on CPI; the base rate for Councillors is set at $17,394, with an annual increase based on CPI. A recent survey of similarly sized municipalities follows: