Property taxes are going up due to hospital construction PROPERTY TAXES are poing up again in the northwest. It's a 345 bump on an average home assessment of $100,000 and comes courtesy of a little-known entity, the Northwest. Re- gional Hospital District. It’s a _provincially-man- dated authority with the power to raise money via property taxes. It was formed in the 1990s from several smailer versions which themselves date. back years. The larger hospital dis- trict covers approximately 40 per cent of the costs of building northwest health care facilities or purchas- ing equipment with the re- mainder coming from the provincial government. This year’s increase is mainly to help pay for the hospital district's portion of the new Kitimat hospi- tal and health care centre opened last year. The tentative 2003 bud- get-is $3.316 million com- pared to the 2002 total of $2.767 million and $3.153 million in 2001. Direct taxation accoun- ted for $1.8 miflion in 2001 dipped to $1 million in 2002 and is projected to rise to $2.5 million in 2003. The hospital district's total long term debt for the Kitimat hospital and health care centre is $10.9 million. Maturity dates on money borrowed to pay for the centre stretch out to 2021 and 2022, me Homeowners are also paying $1.255 million for a recent addition to the Bulkley Lodge extended care facility in Smithers. That debt won't be paid until 2010. And 2007 is the end date for debt tied to the re- cent renovation of the re- gional psychiatric unit at Mills Memorial Hospital and for a new fire alarm ‘system at Mills. ‘The regional hospital district’s boundaries rough- ly match the northwest ad- ministrative area created in late 2001 by the North- ern Health Authority. This was to make a clo- ser connection between property taxation and hav- ing that money spent in the area in which it was collected. At the same time, the hospital districts and the large regional health au- thorities are working out a new relationship, says Ter- race city councillor Rich McDaniel. That’s because the health authorities are now responsible for planning projects and it's important that the hospital districts, who will raise a portion of the money for the projects or equipment purchases, know. what is going on, said McDaniel who is the chair of the Northwest Re- gional Hospital District. “If the money is raised locally, it should be spent locally,” said McDaniel. “There has to be account- ability.” The district does have a stand-alone board made up of regional district repre- sentatives from Houston The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - A? Rich McDaniel through to the Queen Charlotte Islands. The 2003 budget of $3.216 million also in- cludes $130,000 for ad- ministrative and board meeting expenses, It is headquartered in Terrace. Tee HIDDEN TREASURES #2-3237 Kalum Street, Terrace 638-1070 Fax: 638-1021 Toll Free: 1-888-638-1070 isit our website: www.ebonys.net a mA Email; ebonys@kermade.net Gaede Monday-Saturday 11 o.m.-8 p.m, a ee? (Ui we Cf Spat, Chins ee North loses only forensic pathologist THE NORTHERN part of the province has lost its only forensic pathologist. ’ Doctor Jennifer Rice worked out of the Prince George Regional Hospital but left her post at the end of December 2002. Her departure means that people who die in an unnatural or suspicious manner will be flown to the southern part of the province where forensic pathologists can conduct a detailed autopsy. In the case of children, forensic patho- logists at the B.C. Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Vancouver would most likely conduct the autopsy. “The reality is with Dr. Rice gone we need to look at alternative arrange- ments,” says deputy chief coroner for B.C. Norm Leibel. 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