All property address information must be changed with BC Assessment and Land Titles.

Yes, you can make periodic installments on your utility account throughout the year. The frequency of the payments is up to you. To have the amount automatically come out of your bank account you must set up the payment online through your financial institution. The SCRD does not have the ability to set up pre-authorized payments for you. You will need to add the Sunshine Coast Regional District as a payee and include your 6 digit account number.

Balances that remain unpaid by 4:30 p.m. on the due date are subject to a 2% penalty. Subsequent penalties will be applied to the account for each month that it remains outstanding (applied on the close of business on the 15th of each month). Balances that remain outstanding as of December 31 are deemed to be taxes in arrears and will be transferred to your property tax account per Section 399.2(b) of the Local Government Act. Once this happens, the outstanding amount is no longer payable to the SCRD, payment must be made to your property tax account.

If a utility account remains unpaid as of the close of business on June 17,  a reminder notice will be generated and sent to the owner in late June. If the balance continues to be unpaid by mid-September a second, final reminder will be issued.

If the balance remains unpaid as of December 31 it is transferred to property taxes where the Surveyor issues a notice. A summary of the SCRD’s current collections policy is as follows:

One Day After Due Date of June 17 – Any outstanding current charge incurs a 2% penalty

30 Days After Due Date of June 17 – Any outstanding current charge incurs a 2% penalty

Greater than 30 Days After Due Date – If the account continues to remain unpaid on the 16th of the following month, an additional 2% will be applied to the account for each month that it remains outstanding, until paid in full.

Year End (December 31) – Balances that remain unpaid as of December 31 of the current year will be transferred to property taxes as per Local Government Act Section 399.2 (b).

The SCRD does not issue property taxes and therefore does not collect property tax payments. Please refer to your Property Tax Notice for instructions on where and how the payment should be made.

In general, if your folio number begins with:

• 746 – Payments should be made to the Surveyor of Taxes via Service BC. There is an office located in Sechelt at 5498 Wharf Ave. Phone No: 604-885-5187. If you are outside of Sechelt please call 1-800-663-7867 to get the nearest Service BC location. Please note, some online banking systems may list this payee as “Province of BC – Rural Property Tax”.
• 570 – Payments should be made to the District of Sechelt, located at 5797 Cowrie St. Phone No: 604-885-1986.
• 524 – Payments should be made to the Town of Gibsons, located at 474 South Fletcher Rd. Phone No. 604-886-2274.

Utilities are a charge against the property; any outstanding amount incurred by the previous owner stays outstanding against the property where the service was delivered. The notary/lawyer handling the sale should have adjusted for utilities on the Statement of Adjustments. Please check with them to see if a payment was made for the utility charges.

We receive our property information from BC Assessment in the form of weekly uploads, therefore you are not required to inform us when the property changes hands. Please make sure your lawyer/notary is aware that you pay the SCRD for utilities as they will need to make an adjustment on the Statement of Adjustments to account for your portion of the charges. They can obtain this information directly from us by emailing utilitysearch@scrd.ca.

Water will commence the month following the installation of a water connection. The water user rate will be pro-rated. Most times water is used during the construction phase hence the water charge being applied right away. If applicable, garbage and wastewater service charges will commence the month following issuance of final occupancy.

Residential utility customers will receive one utility bill per year, for the billing period of January 1 – December 31 of the current year. The invoice is issued at the end of April and is payable by 4:30 p.m. June 15 unless otherwise stated.

New construction may receive more than one bill in the first year for pro-rated services. The water charge will commence the month following the installation of a water connection. If the property is within the garbage collection service boundary and/or wastewater boundary the service charge will commence the month following issuance of final occupancy from the Building Services Division. Metered utility customers will receive a quarterly invoice.

Although most properties on the Sunshine Coast recently had water meters installed, there are only a small number of properties that are being billed based on their metered water consumption. These properties fall in the industrial, commercial or institutional classification. The quarters end March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31.

If you haven’t received your annual utility bill by late May, please contact us at infrastructure@scrd.ca or 604-885-6806 and we will provide you with a copy. If you are a new owner, our records may not yet reflect the change of ownership and the utility bill may have been sent to the previous owner.

There are two separate water charges, one in the form of a user fee, and the second showing up on the property tax notice (parcel tax / land charge). As a Regional District we are not able to include user fees on property taxes. The user fee (utility bill) is intended to cover operating costs associated with delivering water to your property while the parcel tax (land charge on property tax notice) is to offset the maintenance of the water lines and capital projects. The parcel tax is levied to all properties that have access to the service regardless of use.

User rates are charged against properties that are connected to the SCRD water system or wastewater facility. The SCRD also provides curbside garbage collection services to residential properties within the service area. The user rate is set to offset the operating costs associated with providing the service. User rates apply to each separate residential unit. That means a home with a suite is considered two residential units. A property with more than one dwelling on the land, regardless of whether or not it is in use, will also be billed for each unit.

The registered owner is always responsible for the charges therefore the SCRD only invoices the registered owner. However, if the registered owner has contracted out a property management firm we will make the exception if we receive notice in writing. If there are more than one registered owners only one will receive the invoice. Our system defaults to the first person listed on the Land Title. If there is a specific co-owner who should receive the invoice please inform us at infrastructure@scrd.ca or 604-885-6806.

Although water meters were installed at many properties on the Sunshine Coast, the water service charge is still a flat rate amount in most cases, not based on usage. Under this current structure, the service charge is levied against the property regardless of whether or not the building is vacant for part of the year. If you will be away for an extended period of time (more than a year) and the dwelling will not be used during that period we can turn the water off which would result in inactivation of the water charge (there is a $50 fee for turning the water off). Unfortunately, garbage is a mandatory service, regardless of use, so the charge will remain.