The Comox-Strathcona Regional Hospital District (CSRHD) has adopted a 2015 budget of $122 million.
The budget will see an estimated tax rate of $84 per $100,000 of assessed property value.
This rate reflects the hospital board’s strategy of having implemented a gradual tax rate over the past six years, which has resulted in less money being financed for the North Island Hospitals Project, as well as in a shorter borrowing term for that financing.
The CVRD’s manager of financial planning, Wendy Byrne, says where the majority of the funds will go.
At the beginning of 2015, the reserve balance was $29.2 million.
Once expenditures on the North Island Hospitals Project have been made this year, the reserves will be fully expended.
In addition to providing 40% of capital funding for the new hospitals, the CSRHD has also allocated $883,677 for new capital projects and equipment in the existing hospitals in the Comox Valley and Campbell River, and in other facilities supported by the regional hospital district.
Also, approximately $988,411 is being carried forward for previous years’ projects not yet completed.
(COURTESY OF THE COMOX VALLEY RD)
