A10 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 29, 2003 -
TERRACE STANDARD .

Business REView |_
Budget crunch

City not counting
on Skeena taxes

Out &
About

Major reno

at Coast Inn

THE COAST Inn of the
West is in the midst of a
major renovation of its
main floor.

The front desk is mov-
ing closer to the main en-
trance and offices are
being moved, opening up
space for a new lounge,
says manager Doug Bar-
retf.

The lounge will incor-
porate the former Hector's
dining room area.

Once the work is fin-
ished, he said, Hanky’s
cabaret will be accessed
only via Emerson SL, not
through the hotel lobby.

They’ve also put a
smoking room in the bar
and will add new carpeting
throughout the bar and
lounge.

The work will cost in
excess of $250,000, Bar-

rett said, adding it should ©

be finished by Sate Febr-
uary.

“It’s going to be a total-
ly new look,” he said. “It's
a total re-engineering of
how to do business down
on the main floor.”

Early out

HAWKAIR'’s first flight of
the day now departs 15
minutes earlier.

“Wheels up at 7:45 pets
business travelers to the
city 15 minutes sooner,”
Hawkair’s Dave Menzies
said, adding it also gets
the plane out ahead of in-
coming traffic, avoiding
potential delays,

“We can get out before
in-coming planes, start. to
cAutempt their landings.”
feat lie locally” owned
line is adding a ‘base in
Prince Rupert so it can
‘overnight planes there too.

By JEFF NAGEL
THE CITY should aban-
don the assumption that
the New Skeena will
eventually pay its taxes,
one city councillor says.

David Hull says the
city isn’t counting on
the forest company pay-
ing its unpaid back taxes
from last year — as com-
pany president Dan Ve-
niez promised to do as
soon as possible.

And he doesn’t ex-
pect the new tax bill of
$815,000 for 2003 due
on July 1 will be paid ei-
ther.

“I have no doubt that
SCI isn’t going to pay their
taxes this July either,” he
said. “[Veniez's] struggling
to get back on his feet. 'm
sure paying his taxes are
one of his least priorities.”

By the end of 2003, the
city expects to be $1.98
million short. thanks to
Skeena’s non-payment.

Council is still aiming
for a zero-tax increase
budget this year despite
the fact it expects no
money from Skeena.

The arrears are expec-
ted to eventually be added
back as a surplus that will
allow increased capital
project spending a few
years from now,

But Hull says the new
- Terrace may ultimately be

one without the SCI tax
base. .

“I think we'd be wise

. now to start using that

cisions will have to be

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RECONFIGURATION
COMMITTEE MEETING
SCHEDULE

Thornhill Junior Secondary

Thursday January 30*, 2003 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
ALL MEETINGS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

G

SUR,

BIG BROTHERS & BiG SISTERS |
OF TERRACE

Annual General Meeting

Thursday, February 27, 2003
7:00 pm at 4711 Lazelle Avenue

Naminations will be accepted from the floor.
We are in need of new Board Members.
For more information, please call 635-4232

4

The University of Northern
British Columbia
Northwest Campus
is planning the next intake for the

BACHELOR OF
SOCIAL WORK

in Terrace beginning

September 2003

APPLICATION PACKAGES ARE
AVAILABLE NOW
from the Northwest Campus
in Terrace and from the Registrar’s
office in Prince George.
Applications will be accepted and
will be reviewed until
TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2003.

Please contact the
= Nornhwest Campus lor information.
4741 Park Avenue,

Telephone (250) 615-5578 or -
1-800-697-7388

Terrace, BC

great beds, Perfect.

David Hull

made — if not this year
then in the next couple.

“You can patch instead
of repair,” Hull said. “You
can repair instead of re-
place. But at a certain
point the system
collapses.”

“At what point do you
face reality?”

He said Terrace has a

“There are not a
_lot of efficiencies
we can do unless
we're prepared to
make vast whole-
sale changes to
our services.”

small industrial tax base
and is relatively lean.

The city takes in and
spends just over $13 mil-
lion a year. About 40 per
cent of that goes to protec-
tive services like policing
and firefighting, he said.

“There are not a lot of
efficiencies we can do un-

‘changes to our services,”
Hull said.
One option Hull con-

‘vered commntinitveharter

Dan Veniez

firmed city councillors

“We don’t have winter weekends
like this on the prairies.”

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I A

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considered in past years is
that Terrace seek a share
of the property taxes Alcan
pays to Kitimat. Council-
lors once considered ask-
ing the provincial govern-
ment to make such a thing
possible.

But Hull rejects the no-
tion.

“[ think it’s a non-
starter,” he said.

Rather than attempt to
raid Kitimat's tax base, he
said, Terrace should prob-
ably just count itself lucky
that Kitimatians shop here
in huge numbers and that -
hundreds of people who
work in Kitimat choose to
live in Terrace and com- ~
mute. ;
“FT don’t think we need
to go to our sister. commu- ©
nities in the northwest and
try to take more from
them.”

One hopeful area, he .
said, is the province’s pro- |
mised. but: not.,yet,.deli-_

which is expected to“¢re- —
ate new ways for towns to
raise revenues.

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loveseat or chair, we don’t have x-ray glasses to see exacily what
you have inside your home, but we know some of you do have
some ‘ugly’ furniture, it’s okay, it’s probably in the basement by now
~ the first step to recovery is to admittance), We're here to help. _

thought?

Think your old couch could
be the ugliest one in town?
- Prove It & Win - with
the trade in on any sofa,
love or chair you will be
entered in our first ever
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you could win a prize for
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furniture you have been
holding onto all these
years. Who would have

Don’t want to part with your
ugly couch quite yet? You could
still win a prize for your “beautiful
to you” couch or chair that you
can’t let go of {yet). Just bring us
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