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1/24/05: Frazer Street revitalization & Cuts

Strange contrast

Mark ‘demands’ Fraser St be fixed in name of local businesses

Go to the City Hall site and then to the agenda packages (site framed -- here is the page) and download it for scan of the package Fr Revitalization called for --- plus read the excellent anti-fish farm tract included in package but ‘filed’ or read it online at Rafe Mairs site

  Kumar ‘explains’ why PR

must reduce services

Some of the presentation was incomprehensible to me

 

The message seemed to be need reduce services by about 1.5M$ (or a huge tax increase of 3M$ in ‘unbiased’ option given council)

See the full text of budget recommendations on Council Web site

 

Before the Power Point presentation

Council discussed LRMP ‘in camera’

Another example of this council doing everything ‘in camera’ (in secret)

When I asked during “question period” why agenda says closed meeting because of ‘personal information’

There was a long pause and then someone thought up that Eamon was potentially going to speak about ‘government to government’ communications

Debts give us few options

Cruise Dock – enjoy it about half the cuts in services are to pay for it

Yes “Skeena” taxes should be paid ‘morally’ by province who owned it for about 11M$ worth of the debt—same province that got almost 1B$ ‘equalization’ payment from Feds as a ‘have not’ (similar to PR?)

The cruise ship dock and upland projects cost the City $3.5 million financed through temporary borrowing which must be repaid within 5 years. Annual charge against property tax is $700,000 or $150 per $100,000 of residential assessment and $110 per $100,000 of commercial assessment”. (pasted from the PDF)

Elsewhere in same PDF: Cruise ship & Uplands $3.5 million: Long term repayable in 20 years. This requires approximately $454,000 charge against operations. Two options are available: reduce services by the amount of the annual charge or increase tax.

Slide was a ‘what if’ we increased services in amount we plan to cut

Huge Tax increase any one?

                     UNFAIR example?

One would expect a costing out of “no services cuts” example here. But that may not get the desired public reaction so lets double the impact and see if anyone notices (my interpretation)

 

And what is the Fire Fighters ‘parity issue’?? I hear it was contractual – something to do w parity with Vancouver fire fighters --- but you did not hear council or Kumar explain this (more in camera’ secrets) (my interpretation)

Note the blue arrow where the cruise dock amortization is 700T$ while Skeena debt 600T$ --- >Kumarese??

 

What these guys smoking??

 

Parking meters as cash bonanza

Almost as good as logging our mountain behind town for $$

“Forward w certainty and an eye to the future”

Has anyone heard of the Hydro project before now? (in camera) – Still 1st nations might want some of the $$ as lake was once important sockeye system before PR got water there. And check out the community forest (Terrace paper said 6 parcels – best in same watershed as our drinking water? (in camera?)

And make CityTel into a ‘private’ company

while borrowing 23M$ to upgrade services

Residential Taxes

Kumar often gives the impact of some course action in how much it will cost a ‘typical’ home owner in ‘property taxes’. Left is from the power point presentation but not in the PDF file --- for whatever reason it includes Skeena taxes as if paid --- still gives good idea how this council has redistributed the tax burden over time between business, Port and Residential tax bills – of course it does not include the large increases paid for sewer/ water/ garbage (or does it?)

 

Total taxes

Another Kumar example that does not seem to ‘jibe’ with previous.

Here the decrease in taxes seems to be that Skeena not included after ’03.

Note how CityTel has been pumped to keep up the services in city operations

 

 

 

 

 

Created by LG on 1/30/2005

Last updated on Monday, January 01, 2007