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The Regional District of North Okanagan is
one of 27 in the Province of British Columbia. The North
Okanagan Regional District is shown as number 37.
Regional districts are British Columbia's
way of ensuring that all residents have access to commonly
needed services, no matter where they live. Beginning in
1965, BC's regional form of government is one of the most
innovative in Canada.
The regional district functions as a partnership
of the municipalities and electoral areas within its boundaries.
These local governments work together through the regional
district to provide and coordinate services in both urban
and rural areas.
The services offered by regional districts
in British Columbia are varied and could include: fire protection
and emergency programs; recreation and libraries; water
supply and waste disposal systems. More may be required
as local needs are identified and supported in democratic
fashion.
BC has 27 regional districts involving all
the province's municipalities and rural areas. Regional
districts are very diverse. Their populations range from
1.8 million in Greater Vancouver Regional District to 3,900
residents in the Central Coast Regional District. They serve
up to 120,000 square kilometers in Peace River.
Spanning both municipal and rural boundaries,
regional districts deliver services that a single municipality
cannot provide, such as a large recreation complex, or a
major sewage system.
Regional district boards respond to locally
expressed needs for service and consult with residents about
which services they can provide; where they are to be provided;
and how the services are to be financed. A variety of forms
of consultation are used, including referendums and the
receipt of petitions. Some services may be provided to only
part of an electoral area, while others are provided region-wide.
Costs are recovered by billing the taxpayers benefiting
from the services.
Emergency telephone systems and curbside recycling
programs are good examples of new services delivered by
regional districts.
A separate body that shares the same geographic
boundaries as the regional district is the regional hospital
district. These districts provide the local share for financing
hospital construction. They ensure that all the residents
of an area that can receive hospital services make an equitable
contribution to the capital costs. Regional hospital districts
do not fund or direct the operations of hospitals; they
are only involved in their construction.
Most of BC's territory consists of rural areas
outside municipal boundaries. These rural areas are home
to 12 percent of the total population. Regional districts
provide these residents with an effective form of local
government while also representing municipal residents on
regional issues.
Thus regional districts are governed by a
board consisting of two types of directors. Electoral
Area Directors are elected directly by rural area
voters and serve three-year terms. Municipal Directors
are first elected to a municipal council and are then appointed
by the council to the regional district board for a one
year term. The board selects its own chairperson, who generally
sets up committees to deal with issues such as planning,
environmental management, or economic development.
Each year, BC's regional districts provide
over $541 million in services. Regional districts account
for about 14 cents of each dollar spent by local government
in British Columbia. Environmental services and recreational
services are the largest expenditures.
Regional districts raise this money primarily
through property taxes, although they do not tax directly,
in rural areas, property taxes are collected by the province
through the finance ministry. Within municipal boundaries,
taxes are paid to the municipality. The Province and municipalities
then transfer funds to regional districts to cover the costs
of the services they are sanctioned by the voter to provide.
Additional regional district revenues are
generated by a fee-for-service sales to customers and provincial
government grants.
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