Village of Anmore Financial Sustainability Plan FINAL REPORT October 2013 Prepared by: Vann Struth Consulting Group Inc. Prepared for: Village of Anmore TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 Project Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 1 Financial Sustainability ................................................................................................................. 2 Study Process ................................................................................................................................ 2 General Assumptions .................................................................................................................... 3 Structure of the Report ................................................................................................................ 4 2. BASELINE ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................... 6 Total Population ........................................................................................................................... 6 Population by Age ......................................................................................................................... 7 Housing Units and Residential Lots .............................................................................................. 7 Revised Population Estimates .................................................................................................... 10 Household Formation ................................................................................................................. 11 Residential Lot Size and Land Value ........................................................................................... 13 Residential Lot Size and Housing Value ...................................................................................... 16 House Size ................................................................................................................................... 18 Developable Land and Comprehensive Development (CD) Lot Capacity ................................... 19 Municipal Taxation Comparisons ............................................................................................... 20 3. POPULATION AND HOUSING PROJECTIONS .................................................................................... 22 Low Scenario ‐ Fixed Share of Sub‐Regional Housing Growth ................................................... 23 Middle Scenario ‐ Continuation of Recent Population Growth .................................................. 25 High Scenario ‐ Fixed Share of Sub‐Regional Population Growth .............................................. 26 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 27 4. ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS ...................................................................................... 29 Scenario Assumptions................................................................................................................. 29 Value Assumptions ..................................................................................................................... 31 Implications for Assessment Base .............................................................................................. 33 5. MUNICIPAL REVENUE AND COST ASSUMPTIONS ........................................................................... 35 5.1. Revenues ..................................................................................................................................... 35 5.2. Expenses ...................................................................................................................................... 37 General Government Expenses .................................................................................................. 37 Public Works ............................................................................................................................... 38 Protective Services ..................................................................................................................... 39 Planning and Engineering ........................................................................................................... 40 Reserve Accounts and Infrastructure Replacement ................................................................... 40 I VILLAGE OF ANMORE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY PLAN, OCTOBER 2013 Lifecycle Costs of New Infrastructure ......................................................................................... 45 5.3. Net Financial Position .................................................................................................................. 47 Impact of Population Growth ..................................................................................................... 48 5.4. Other Considerations .................................................................................................................. 51 Commercial Development .......................................................................................................... 51 Municipal Fees and Charges ....................................................................................................... 51 Sasamat Volunteer Fire Department .......................................................................................... 53 Water Utility ............................................................................................................................... 54 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................... 55 APPENDIX A: DETAILED ASSUMPTIONS FOR MUNICIPAL FINANCIAL ANALYSIS ........................................ 58 "High‐Quality" Standard for New Home Construction ............................................................... 63 APPENDIX B: FEES AND CHARGES ANALYSIS .............................................................................................. 64 Detailed Results .......................................................................................................................... 64 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 68 II VILLAGE OF ANMORE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY PLAN, OCTOBER 2013 1. INTRODUCTION The Village of Anmore is a small but growing community of about 2,300 residents in the Metro Vancouver region. It features spectacular natural surroundings and a semi‐rural lifestyle in close proximity to nature, with easy access to trails, parks and open spaces. Settlement in the Anmore Valley goes back more than a century, but the municipality is relatively young, having been incorporated only in 1987. Population was less than 1,000 as recently as the mid 1990s, but has more than doubled since then with the rate of growth gradually slowing down over time. The prevailing form of development has been single‐family residential homes on large lots, many of which are one acre or more in size with a mixture of smaller subdivisions and a manufactured home park. Commercial development is very limited, with a single general store and a campground. Other local businesses are home‐based. The Village is currently updating its Official Community Plan and is facing a series of pressures that will affect its short‐term and long‐term financial outlook. These include the need to renew aging municipal infrastructure, the desire to maintain and/or improve existing levels of service delivery for a growing population, and to accommodate continued development on a fixed land base as Anmore captures a small share of the tens of thousands of new residents in Metro Vancouver each year. These circumstances make this an excellent time to prepare a Financial Sustainability Plan. PROJECT OBJECTIVES The over‐arching goal of the Financial Sustainability Plan is to assess the long‐term financial implications of Anmore continuing with its traditional pattern of development, and to determine whether alternative approaches to development and growth would lead to improved financial outcomes. The analysis is conducted over a 20‐year time horizon and includes a full investigation of all municipal services, their associated costs and revenues, and key drivers of change. Population and housing projections are developed for a "base case" scenario that assumes development guidelines remain largely the same, along with several alternative scenarios that include different types of development and/or different rates of growth. The study also includes a comparative survey of municipal fees and charges to determine if Anmore's fees are consistent with other communities and what possible changes might be considered. The financial impact of a revised fee schedule is also assessed. The results of the study will help to inform community consultations for Anmore's Official Community Plan update. 1 VILLAGE OF ANMORE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY PLAN, OCTOBER 2013 FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY There is no single definition of what financial sustainability means for a municipality, but for this report the following definition is used: Financial sustainability