West Kelowna, B.C.’s mayor apologized Wednesday after 1000’s of residents acquired a letter from town that lacked some essential data on further prices to repay a debt for the group’s new water therapy plant.
“We didn’t do job in speaking once we despatched this letter out and I apologize on behalf of town,” Mayor Gord Milsom advised World Information.
Milsom is offering clarification within the wake of the letter which has brought on a whole lot of concern and resulted in lots of calls to metropolis corridor.
Residents who get their water from the brand new Rose Valley Water Therapy Plant acquired the letter this week.
It outlines the quantity households owe to repay a $23.5 million debt town took on on when it borrowed cash in the direction of the $75 million challenge.
“This was a whole shock to us,” mentioned West Kelowna resident Talia Zumpano.
That’s as a result of residents already pay about $150 a yr for the plant and have completed so for a number of years.
“We now have been paying a further levy in the direction of the therapy plant,” Zumpano mentioned.
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The letter that’s now making waves gives two fee choices.
One choice is to pay a yearly charge of roughly $181 for 25 years at an rate of interest of 4.02 per cent.
The opposite choice is a lump sum fee of $2,750. Whereas the one-time fee is cheaper, it needs to be paid by Might 31.
“We don’t have an additional $3,000 mendacity round,” Zumpano mentioned. “I assume a whole lot of different households and folks with kids don’t as properly.”
Milson is assuring residents that the cash owed to repay the debt just isn’t along with that $150 they’ve been paying, a bit of data that was not included within the latest letter.
“We didn’t remind our residents that the $150 that they’ve been placing in the direction of the reserve quantity that helps contribute to the overall prices, it’s going to cease,” he mentioned. “So actually the rise is $31 a yr.”
Whereas that will soften the blow for some folks, the identical can’t be mentioned for the fast deadline for the lump sum fee.
“To offer you a month to pay your invoice was type of excessive particularly at tax time. Persons are getting tax returns or owing cash they usually need 30 days to pay it,” mentioned West Kelowna resident Jonathan Kierstead. “That’s just a little insane.”
It’s a timeline Milsom mentioned can’t, sadly, be prolonged attributable to reimbursement course of deadlines town itself should meet.
“Perhaps once more one other mistake on our half to not give extra time to our residents,” Milsom mentioned. “We apologize for that, apologize for that late discover.”
© 2025 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
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