RMOW Council voted in favour of changes to the Five-Year Financial Plan 2024-2028 that would add more full-time fire service staff to the department and Hall 3 on the south end of town.
In January 2024, the RMOW council voted to fund the addition of two career firefighters during daytime hours at Spring Creek Fire Hall, also called Fire Hall 3, seven days a week.
The additional fire staffing expenses for 2024 would be funded by a reduced contribution to operating reserves and partly by a mix of increased taxes from 2025 to 2028 and reduced contributions to capital reserves in 2025 and 2026. All told, annual expenses for fire staff would increase by $2.5 million by 2028.
The financial plans also detail the changes to provincial Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funding.
The list of RMI projects, which will be completed with matching grants from the province, includes adding interpretive sign panels to parks and trails, upgrades to the Whistler Conference Centre, upgrades to the outdoor skating rink at Whistler Olympic Plaza, more recreational trail maps, a parks accessibility program, funds to upgrade the splash park, playground and trails/off-leash areas at Meadow Park, repairs and upgrades to Meadow Park, climate and resiliency projects for Lakeside Park, improvements to park washrooms, and more – including a project to replace the aging bridge that spans Wedge Creek on the Comfortably Numb mountain bike trail.
Whistler benefited from an additional $1.3 million in provincial RMI funding, thanks to the recent strength of its tourism economy. Through conversations with the province, this money has been earmarked for resort operations.