On Tuesday, June 25, Council approved three readings of the borrowing bylaws in support of Build Kamloops and directed staff to proceed with an Alternative Approval Process to seek approval from the electors.

So, what’s next?

As part of the Alternative Approval Process, the City must submit the bylaws to the Inspector of Municipalities for approval. The bylaws and all accompanying information were submitted on Wednesday, June 26. The Inspector will certify that all applicable requirements in the Community Charter and/or Local Government Act have been met by the City. This review and approval process is expected to take between 6 and 8 weeks, so until then, we wait.

Once the bylaws receive statutory approval from the Inspector of Municipalities, we can begin the Alternative Approval Process. This process will include two statutory notices, which will be issued in accordance with our standard practice:

• Posted online at Kamloops.ca/StatutoryNotices
• Emailed to all residents who subscribe to receive “Statutory Public Notices” (subscribe at Kamloops.ca/Subscribe)
• Posted to the bulletin board at City Hall

Following the second notice, eligible electors who are opposed to the adoption of the borrowing bylaws will have no less than 30 days to submit an Elector Response Form to City Hall. This window is expected to occur sometime between the middle of August and the end of September, depending on when we receive a Certificate of Approval from the Inspector of Municipalities. At the start of this window, Elector Response Forms are made available at City Hall and online. Forms can be mailed, dropped off in person, deposited in the Dropbox outside City Hall or emailed to Legislative Services. Signed forms received after the deadline has passed cannot be counted.

If, by the deadline, 10% or more of the total number of estimated eligible electors sign and submit response forms, we cannot proceed with the adoption of the bylaws without first holding a referendum.

If the City receives electoral approval, the bylaws will be adopted, allowing the City to incur the borrowing as necessary for the identified projects.

It’s important for residents to understand that we are not seeking approval to build the facilities; we are seeking approval to incur long-term debt.

Many of you may not be familiar with this approval process; however, it is routinely and commonly used across the province as an economic and affordable means to seek public approval.

Recent examples from other municipalities:

• In 2023, Kelowna used the AAP to seek public support for their recreation program upgrade with a borrowing bylaw in the amount of $241,320,000.
• The Vernon Cultural Center was approved for $28,000,000 in 2022 under an AAP by the public.
• Prince George undertook a $32,170,000 AAP to address numerous capital projects in 2019, and is currently seeking electoral approval to borrow up to $22,150,000 to update the Prince George Aquatic Centre.

In Kamloops, there have been many projects where long-term borrowing was used as a funding source after gaining electorate approval via the AAP. The term may not be familiar to members of the public, but this has been used in Kamloops numerous times:

• Kamloops Centre for Water Quality (water treatment centre) - 2005: $48,500,000
• Tranquille Road upgrades - 2012: $2,500,000
• Kamloops Sewage Treatment Centre - 2013: $40,000,000
• Overlander Bridge upgrades - 2013: $9,200,000
• Kamloops Resource Recovery Centre - 2014: $10,000,000
• Columbia Street Upgrades (3rd Ave to 6th Ave) - 2014: $1,900,000

Further details on eligibility and process of an AAP are available at Kamloops.ca/AAP.