Utilities

Utilities are now incorporated into your annual tax notice.

The Village of Pemberton passes bylaws each year to set water and sewer rates. The rates are determined by annual fixed costs for maintenance, administration and operations. Please refer to Water Rates Amendment Bylaw, for the annual water rates schedule.

PLEASE NOTE: Dyking taxes are administered by the Pemberton Valley Dyking District (not the Village of Pemberton). Please visit www.pvdd.ca or call 604 894 6632 to find out how to submit payment for dyking taxes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do my residential utility fees pay for?

Utility fees cover the cost of operating and maintaining Village water and sewer services.

When are residential utility fees due?

Payments are due and payable on the same due date as your property taxes.  

How do I pay my utility taxes?

You can pay your utility invoice by cash, cheque, or debit card at the Village Office or through the mail slot, by third party with OptionPay or online banking using bill payment at most financial institutions. Select "Pemberton, Village Of (Taxes)" in the Vendor section online. If you need help setting up payments, call the Village Office at 604 894 6135 or contact your financial institution. Remember to write your account number (from your quarterly invoice or your tax folio number for annual utilities) in the memo line if you're paying by cheque.  

Please note:  Credit card payments accepted online here.

Payments at the bank are only available online under vendor bill payments, in person payments are not accepted at your financial institution.

I'm being charged for a suite, but I don't have one - what should I do?

Please contact the Village Office at 604 894 6135 immediately, to make arrangements for a Statutory Declaration and Inspection. There is no charge for this inspection and once completed, your utilities account will be adjusted. 

What happens if I pay my utility taxes after the deadline?

Any portion of your utilities still outstanding after midnight on the tax due date will receive a 10% penalty. All quarterly utilities transfer to property taxes on December 31st as taxes in arrears and are subject to a daily interest rate.  

Statutory Declaration & Inspection Program

Statutory Declarations can be mailed, faxed, emailed or dropped off in person to the appropriate Village number/address located at the bottom of this page.

Quick Summary

• If you DO NOT have a secondary suite, please complete and return a Statutory Declaration to the Village Office.
• Upon receiving your Statutory Declaration, we will contact you to schedule an Inspection.
• Once the Village inspector confirms that no secondary suite exists, your water and sewer rates will be updated.
• Other than payment of your utilities, no action is required if you do have a secondary suite.
• Payment of the additional utility fee in no way legalizes the existence of a suite with respect to any covenant or Village Bylaws.

About the Program

The Village of Pemberton has implemented a program to help provide fair and equitable apportionment of the cost of operating Village water and sewer utilities. The purpose of this program is to help us accurately identify those residences that DO NOT have secondary suites in order to ensure that these home owners continue to pay the lower single family water and sewer utility rate. For the purpose of this program, a secondary suite is defined as a self contained unit that is located within the same building as the principal use, and is provided with a separate entrance.

If you DO NOT have a secondary suite, please complete a Statutory Declaration and return it to the Village Office on or before December 31st. An inspection will be scheduled of all residences where owners have submitted a Statutory Declaration.

If you HAVE a secondary suite, whether occupied or not, no action is required other than payment of your utilities once received. Please note that payment of the additional utility fee in no way legalizes the existence of a suite with respect to any covenant or Village zoning and building bylaws.

Once the Village has received your Statutory Declaration, we will contact you to schedule an inspection to confirm that no secondary suite exists. You will not be charged for the inspection, and the inspection will not cover any other issues beyond the confirmation that no suite exists.

Once the Village inspector confirms that no suite exists, water and sewer user fees for the property will be adjusted for the following year accordingly in our records and on your annual utilities bill.

If a Statutory Declaration is signed and the inspector discovers that a suite is in fact in existence, whether occupied or not, the property owner will be charged a water and sewer rate to reflect both the single family residence and the secondary suite, plus a penalty.

We are not using this program as a method of "cracking down" on non-conforming suites, but rather to ensure that the cost of additional demand on Village services created by secondary suites is shared fairly and equitably among residences that have them.