Landlord zapped by service charges
The owner of a recently established apartment building in Trout Creek appealed to council this week to rescind “unconscionable” service charges from Summerland’s electrical utility that are zapping him for $2,500 a month.
Following a rezoning in late 2020, John Lathey converted 25 studio units in his Summerland Motel into long-term rental suites and told council Monday he was appearing on his tenants’ behalf.
“The (district) by means of a bylaw passed last year, which I’m told is only applicable to residents of Sunoka Apartments, are levying service charges on every individual unit, despite the fact there has been no additional service,” said Lathey.
“This has been done by means of adding 24 additional service
charges to the monthly utility bill sent to Sunoka Apartments. That represents some $2,500 a month.”
Lathey said he’s been paying those charges “under protest” while trying to sort out the situation with utility regulators
and district staff.
Simply passing on the charges to his renters isn’t tenable either, he added, because it would effectively raise their cost of living by 8%.
“These are difficult times for all, so to levy nebulous service charges for no additional services that are targeting a specific group of people that are living in low-cost accommodation just because you can is unconscionable,” said Lathey.
Mayor Doug Holmes pledged to follow up on the matter with staff.
The issue stems from Lathey’s decision to continue running the building’s electricity through a single power meter as the motel did, rather than going through the expense of installing individual meters in suites. In such cases, the public utility now applies a charge for each dwelling unit to the total bill.
The rezoning required to convert part of the motel to long-term housing was approved by the previous council in November 2020 following a public hearing at which a dozen people spoke in opposition due to concerns it would impact the character of Trout Creek.