When we say Salt Springers vote with their wallets, that sometimes might mean opening them up.
Islanders are still blinking their eyes at the novelty of seeing a “new connection applications” button on the North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) website, and the momentum seems behind ensuring the prerequisite resilient infrastructure will be in place to support them.
Twice as many voted in favour of the loan authorization for the Maxwell Lake water treatment plant than voted at all during the last water district trustee contest — and at first glance, with 74 per cent voting to authorize borrowing, one might reasonably assume ratepayers showed up at the polls ready to spend.
Of course there’s some nuance at play. A ballot cast to authorize borrowing now is arguably a frugalist’s vote; the treatment plant is mandated by the province, and choosing to pay in today’s dollars is simply wagering that tomorrow’s will buy less — an undoubtedly safe bet.
But were the Salt Spring voter merely a thrifty animal, perhaps we might’ve seen more than lukewarm participation in the counter-petition on the Capital Regional District’s Regional Transportation Service, a looming tax hike our island’s elected officials assure us will show no local benefit. Or, even more relevantly, we might’ve expected less enthusiasm for authorizing similar borrowing for the new fire hall.
Indeed, the “no more taxes, ever” contingent seems again to have been vastly overrepresented, mostly confined to an outsized social media presence; between record voter turnout and the 3-to-1 result for the NSSWD referendum, there may be a lesson to be drawn regarding online tempests and their virtual teapots.
Regardless, we continue to take the optimist’s view: that Salt Spring brings voters to the polls with a keen eye to future value, rather than simple penny-pinching. With this latest referendum, yet another local improvement district can justifiably crow about having the confidence of its ratepayers. Now we look forward to both of them delivering.