qathet Regional District Adopts 2026 Budget and Five-Year Financial Plan
qathet, BC – At the March 25, 2026 Regional Board meeting, the qathet Regional District (qRD) Board of Directors adopted the 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets and the 2026 – 2030 Five-Year Financial Plan. The qRD is statutorily obligated to adopt its annual operating and capital budgets by March 31st of each year.
The 2026 Budget will total $29.4 million dollars. This includes a total operating budget for the year of $18.2 million, total capital spending of $5 million, and total debt payments and transfers to reserves of $4.4 million. The qRD has applied for, and obtained total grant funding of $2.7 million to assist with many planned projects in 2026.
The 2026 budget means an overall requisition decrease of $306,575 otherwise known as a 2.22 per cent reduction from that of 2025.
Projects planned for 2026 include:
- Continuation of the Regional FireSmart program.
- Completion of the Savary Island Official Community Plan.
- Expansion of the Texada Island para-transit route.
- Replacement of Shelter Point Park footbridge.
- Replacement of cedar roof on Palm Beach Park washroom/concession building.
“The Regional Board is committed to maintaining a consistent tax requisition rate for our residents with the goal of avoiding significant variations from year to year,” said Clay Brander, qRD Board of Directors Chair. “The Board had many discussions concerning the cost benefit of utilizing previous-year surpluses to offset requisition rates, while balancing the importance of maintaining healthy reserves to support the maintenance and replacement of large capital assets, including fire apparatus. These deliberations, along with the expert advice of our staff, ensure our budgets and financial plans consider the short and long-term needs of our entire region in line with the impacts on individual service users.”
About the qathet Regional District Five-Year Financial Plan:
The 2026 – 2030 Five-Year Financial Plan outlays all qRD services as well as the projects identified by the Regional Board as priorities. The qRD currently provides 48 services to the residents of the region, which includes five Electoral Areas and the City of Powell River. Those services are broken down as 13 regional services, 16 sub-regional or shared services, and 19 local services.
Each service is funded only by its own participants and has a separate budget, with no cost-sharing or deficits allowed. The main revenue source is property value tax, based on assessed value, with
smaller contributions from parcel taxes and user fees.
Regional districts do not collect taxes directly. Instead, requisitions for Regional Districts are collected by the Province in electoral areas, and by municipalities within their jurisdictions.
For more information on the Five-Year Financial Plan and annual budgets, please visit qathet.ca/finance/financial-plan/.
About the qathet Regional District:
The qathet Regional District serves the rural areas from Lund to sḵelhp (Saltery Bay), including the City of Powell River, Texada, Savary and Lasqueti Islands. The qRD provides some services, through agreements, to Tla’amin Nation. To learn more please visit qathet.ca.
CONTACT:
Linda Greenan, General Manager of Financial Administration & Chief Financial Officer
#202 – 4675 Marine Avenue, Powell River, BC V8A 2L2
Phone: (604) 485-2260 | Email: finance@qathet.ca