Hamilton Marsh.... Taxes on Taxes

Anyone following the RDN proposed purchase of the Hamilton Marsh will recall that the purchase price of this 360 hectare parcel was $30 million dollars. In their wisdom the RDN board directors which represent every property owner within the RDN including Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville, Qualicum Beach and all the electoral areas, decided that the purchase was to be funded via $21.2 Million in debt to be repaid by tax payers over 20 years and $7.5M by way of funding contribution from partners. These partners include conservation groups and provincial ministries. This represents 75% by direct (forced) taxpayer funding without prior broad public consultation nor referendum, and the remaining 25% from higher levels of government and or private charitable foundations and or trusts.

There are two key conditions in the purchase and sale.

1. By Nov 21/25, "partnership agreements" for funding be in place to the RDN's board satisfaction.

2. By Jan 30 2026, confirmation {receipt} of a minimum of $7.5 Million from funding partners and other contributions.

As this acquisition transaction plays out, four days before the first deadline, we observe the following;

-No announcement of any of the envisioned partnerships agreements from the provincial ministries,

-No announcement from any of the larger land conservation groups,

-Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (MABR) (who is supported in part by the Town of Qualicum Beach), issued a press release indicating they are initiating a critical conditional pledge drive to help secure the remaining 24.8% of the $30 Million dollar goal. No mention is made that that the RDN's contribution of $21.2 million is by way of long term loan to be repaid by local tax payers. In this writers opinion, the wording of this press release could have been more truthful and omission of the debt funding component potentially misleads the public into thinking the funds raised to date are entirely voluntary.

-The Nanaimo & Area Land Trust (NALT) set their fund raising contribution goal at $250,000. To date NALT has raised $139,000 towards the Hamilton Marsh purchase as reported on their website. It is not clear whether these funds are from their endowment funds or new funds collected from the public. NALT has been funded in part, by the RDN and the City of Nanaimo. A recent request for further operational funding of $50,000 from the RDN was defeated out of concerns of double dipping.

-Parksville Qualicum Beach Tourism Association (PQBTA) announces a $10,000 matching pledge campaign. PQBTA primarily represents the tourism business sector and receives operational funding from the Municipal and Regional District Tax collections. PQBTA board includes three non voting directors from the RDN and included municipalities.

-Ducks Unlimited Oceanside Chapter announces that the net proceeds of their annual gala dinner will be directed to the Hamilton Marsh purchase. The amount raised has not been released to date.

Assuming the PQBTA matched funds are successfully taken up and the Ducks Unlimited gala potentially raises $30,000, NALT actually raises their $250,000 goal and MABR participation is ignored for now, as they are not actually seeking committed funds, the amount raised potentially on a collective basis is $300,000.

This is $7.2 million short of the funds required.

TQB Councilor Harrison believes he has the answer to the Hamilton Marsh funding gap.

He is suggesting taxation upon more taxation.

This is his Notice of Motions for the next council meeting:

  "Whereas the Town of Qualicum Beach has already made a contribution toward the purchase of Hamilton Marsh through the funding allocation of $22.5 million through the RDN,"

"Whereas the subject property is very close to the town boundary, and potentially represents the largest increase in protected land in the 21st century in the Parksville Qualicum Beach region,"

" Whereas a six-month timeline to raise $7.5 million creates a real possibility of a funding shortfall, Be it resolved that the Town provide ongoing funding for a period of five years to match donations up to a maximum amount of $500 000, at the rate of $100 000 per annum."

TQB Staff have provided appropriate comments confirming the money is not readily available and either delay of other projects or a tax increase would be necessary.

( A link to the Council Agenda package is provided below.)

I can only assume that councillor Harrison was either not listening or the TQB Director of Finance was not clear enough in his presentation on November 12 2025, when he declared that the town did not have sufficient reserves to cover the necessary repairs and maintenance costs on town owned buildings expected during the next 5 year period. Alternative strategies for consideration included deferring some of the repairs which would increase costs in the long term and/or divesting of assets and/ or increasing reserves through increased taxation. Over and above the lack of available funding for repairs and maintenance, the overall asset management program which replaces buildings in full at the end of their life will need a 1.7 % tax increase each year for the next 15 years in order to meet that funding gap. The Parks/Work yard is now estimated to be $12 million and deferred until after the 2026-2030 budget cycle.

Taxation within the RDN and within the related municipalities is increasingly taxing property owners at an unsustainable rate relative to income growth of their taxpayers. Local governments are trying to fund both needed "must have" replacement assets

( like pollution control and hospitals, water and sewer infrastructure ) and "nice to have" recreational assets and societal supports at a pace that is too quick for taxpayers to absorb in current inflationary environment. There is simply no capacity at a property taxpayer level to also absorb the "nice to do" like land conservation (Hamilton Marsh), recreational expansions (pools and sport facilities) or subsidized housing and social meeting spaces (Qualicum Commons).

As I wrote in an earlier article, I am not against the conservation of this land, I am however against the process undertaken to acquire the land. In my view, land conservation should be achieved in partnership between the federal and provincial governments supported by philanthropy. It is also not evident to me, that sufficient broad based support has been demonstrated to the RDN to take on taxpayer funded debt for a discretionary expense of this magnitude for land conservation classified as a Regional Park.

I am hoping our remaining QB councillors were listening to the dismal state of QB finances outlined by our Director of Finance. We just bought a golf course for $8.8 million, and we have $590,000 allocated for Qualicum Commons upcoming maintenance. Both of these projects were not envisioned in our previous 2025-2029 budget. We simply can't have everything we want. I would like to see clear signal from our council to the RDN board that if the RDN's fundraising goal is not met, the $30 million purchase of the Hamilton Marsh should be scrapped.

Marie Noel

November 19th 2025

Press release Hamilton Marsh — Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region

Town of Qualicum Agenda package Nov 20 2025

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