Regional board highlights
Elimination of non-taxable allowances The Regional Board has received a report from staff in light of the elimination of the non-taxable allowance for work expenses of board directors.
The federal budget and Bill C-44 will cut the exemption effective Jan. 1 and see income taxes and Canada Pension Plan premiums payable on the full remuneration of directors, resulting in a significant net reduction in board members pay.
Prior to October, staff will bring forward amendments to the directors remuneration and expenses Bylaw proposing a one-time 14.25 per cent increase on the entire remuneration amount to cover the increased tax and CPP changes.
This would see an increase of just over $2,300 for municipal directors; $2,890 for electoral area Directors and $5,945 for the board chair. Including the annual Consumer Price Index adjustment, the annual remuneration for the chair would be $47,671.39, for electoral area directors $23,176.08 and $18,540.93 for municipal directors. Dog control review report The regional board has received an independent report reviewing the region’s Dog Control service. Consultant Allan Neilson says much progress has been made since the last report in 2012 especially doubling of the number of licensed dogs, a large decrease in dogs impounded without a licence and other positive changes such as the My Dog Matters Rewards program and app and summer Dog Ambassadors to encourage and support responsible dog ownership and licensing.
The board reaffirmed its support for a policy of zero tolerance in enforcing dog licensing regulations. Staff will bring a future report to the board for consideration. Bikeshare pilot in regional parks The regional board has approved entering into an 18-month agreement supporting the bikeshare pilot program. Regional Parks staff will work with the City of Kelowna and Dropbike Inc. to facilitate the creation of bike-sharing locations within several regional parks. Killiney Beach flood mitigation grant The regional board has given staff the green light to submit an application for a flood mitigation project at Killiney Beach Community Park. The $180,000 request would see repairs made to the park boat launch, dock, foreshore, parking area and access road that were damaged during the spring 2017 flood.