It looks like some Capital Regional District communities are wising up to just how invasive – and stupid – it would be to try and overrule a duly-elected government by sending letters to Esquimalt residents pitching them on the Seaterra sewage project.

The Times Colonist today reports that no CRD letters have gone out yet, and it appears they likely won’t. Esquimalt, Langford and Colwood have already formally rejected the CRD’s planned mail assault – meaning it can’t hit the needed target of five cities.

The T-C, unfortunately, is still reporting the CRD’s flawed numbers:

In exchange for hosting a plant at McLoughlin Point, Esquimalt residents would save $19 million or about $200 a year over 25 years for every household, the CRD says.

But the CTF released numbers last month showing any “saving” would be far less for Esquimalt taxpayers:

As for Esquimalt, the savings are nowhere near as much as the CRD claims. Over the first six years of the project, Esquimalt’s sewage tax hike would drop from a total of $1,640 to $1,480. That’s a drop of roughly a twoonie a month for those first six years.

And the ongoing annual tax bill increase for the fully built plan would drop by $80 a year to $430 annually. Some deal: instead of Esquimalt taxes going up $510 a year, it will be “only” $430. And the CRD expects Esquimalt residents to be oh-so-grateful for this “generosity”?

Meanwhile, Colwood has figured it out: if Esquimalt pays less for this $800 million project, they’ll pay more. From the T-C:

Colwood, meanwhile, is the latest to signal that it’s unlikely to support the $19-million offer. Mayor Carol Hamilton said her council considers it a poor strategy.

“Primarily, those monies offered up to Esquimalt would come at the [expense] of taxpayers of Colwood and Langford and View Royal and those municipalities,” she said.

The Mayor is right. From our piece last month:

Over the first six years of the project, Victoria taxpayers can now expect to pay $1,920 in new sewage taxes – $680 more than the CRD’s lowballed prediction. That means as bad as the CRD’s predicted tax hike is, it’s going to be $110 a year worse for those first six years.

In year seven and beyond, once the Seaterra tax increases are fully phased-in, the annual sewage tax bill for a single family homeowner in Victoria will be $600 higher than it is today. That’s $50 more in sewage taxes per month, forever.

In Saanich, once the increases are phased in, property taxpayers will shell out $290 more a year. Oak Bay residents will pay at least $400 more per year. View Royal taxpayers are looking at a $320 annual increase, and Langford single family homeowners can expect roughly a $330 hike.