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‘The Worran. in een anc}
Although no dates have
been set, Barnswell sys.

; TERRACE - = Terrace tax. -
payers will not'be able to blame |
the Kitimat-Stikine regional or. ~
regional hospital districts for:

any; increase on. their 1990 tax.
notice. ok

‘Having received this ‘year's
requisition‘amount from those

bodies —.and after adjustments t

te take. into: ‘account: surpluses

or shortfalls. from 1989 — the.

city. has released figures show- -.

ing the districts’ portions of tax:

bills will be'down this. year.’

47. 35:cents per $1,000 of tax-

able. vahie to cover, ‘the regional’.
hospital district “levy — down

from-51.41 cents last year. For .

TERRACE — School district

- dom miachines ixi case trustees

the number. of : “funcilons: ‘that

the: regional Adlstrict the respec;

Officials are shopping for-con- -

od ide. to have them n Installed | “in

* tive figures are 26, 98 cents and
28.76 cents,

Those decreases come despite
an overall.3.5 per cent increase -
"in the ‘regional district's. 1990 |
total tax levy-and a marginal i in-

“crease in. that of the regional." i
«hospital: district. VP aes

, Administrator Bob Marcellin:

‘explained * the district ~ levied “

‘taxes under -34 separate ‘‘func-*
tions’’ many of which affect on- ,
‘ly those’ living i in a specific ; area

“ror receiving a particular service.
“Residential taxpayers will pay.

Therefore ‘the amount of an‘in- _
dividual tax bill. depended - on’

Fégio

“ace. fOn.

or slightly below. ‘ast year, the

figure for the, Thornhill fire
depaxtment : ‘hadgone up from

_ $128,000. to $198, 000 while the

“contflbution « by résidents in
nas-the 'benefit-
o thé City of Ter-
écreation) and
cemetary ‘services’ was also up
Substantially, Tertace taxpayers
“are. not affected by such hikes.

The. ‘city’ 3 own. 1990. budget,

“brought down in mid-February,
included. a five per cent across

Lax: increase.

the’ board?

Residents" final ‘tax bill will not
s levy: be’ know | tintil*the city hears
a the setioa! cdistrict’s levy

Environmental -

problems seen

TERRACE — The provincial
government is not providing
enough money or staff to ade-
quately monitor mining
developments in the north and
that, says a regional district
director, could mean Jong term
trouble for the environment.

Noting - the environment

minisiry had only one habitat
protection officer for an area
extending from Bella Coola to

the Yukon border and the

Queen Charlotte Islands to
Houston, Dan Pakula said Vic-
toria had failed to react to the
“mineral explosion’? taking
place in the northwest,

The problem was the same in
other environment ministry
branches, he added.

In contrast, Pakula said min-
ing companies making presenta-
tions to the board had shown up
with as many as half a dozen in-
dividuals, each responsible for
only one particular aspect of the
project.

The shortage was creating
situations such as one where
water quality tests being carried

out at the ministry S| regional
headquarters in Smithers ‘used
samples collected by the mining
company itself. “Smithers has
to rely on them taking samples .

where they say they’re taking

them from,"’ he pointed out.
Emphasizing he was not at-

tempting to ‘‘sow mistrust’? ‘in ~

the companies, Pakula said it
simply highlighted *: the
province's failure-to meet: the
needs of the situation. — _
While the mining operations
had the highest profile at the
moment, he stressed the same
problems would be encountered
with any major ‘development i in
the northwest including’ the pro-
posed Iskut gold road.
Proposing -the district. lobby
the provincial government to
commit the resources necessary
to ensure “responsible develop- ..
ment’’ on any major projects in
the region, Pakula warned’
without that, ‘‘We’re going ‘to,
have some serious environmen- |
tal problems down the road."

The motion passed unoppos- .

ed,

Fed net snags |
unemployment
over payments |

inthe north -

TERRACE — Moie than 500
northwest residents caught
defrauding the unemployment
insurance system last year are
being forced to pay back the
money plus stiff penalties, a
local investigator says.

Around $650,000 in over-

. payments were found during the

1989-90 fiscal year, Canada
Employment Centre in-
vestigator John Jack said last
week.

He said 557 of the more than
2,500 claims investigated in the
Skeena region were found to in-
volve fraud. In addition to the
money being paid back, nearly
$172,000 in additional money
was collected in penalties.

During the same period, some
8,400 people from Terrace to
Houston, south to Kitimat and
as far north as Stewart, received
more than $31 million in
unemployment insurance
benefits.

Jack said the area’s biggest
offender of the year was a local
man who fraudulently collected
nearly $10,000 in benefits over
36 weeks. In addition to paying
back the money,-he was forced
to pay a $6,102 penalty.

Although criminal prosecu-

lion is possible in extreme cases, |

Jack said no charges were laid
in the past year, Investigators
conduct.claim audits using com-
puter analysis of records, and
collect other information from
employers, and. leads and tips
from other sources.

Jack said a common scam of

the past is on¢in which a person
§ receiving unemployment in-

surance benefits goes back to

work. But forgets" to declare
that for several weeks. The clai-

‘mant eventually repays the

money interest-free, but keeps
the accumulated interest.
**It used to be easy money,”
Jack said, ‘but not anymore.”
A nTiew system of penalties
discourages that sort of abuse.
Abusers now must not only

_Tepay all overpayments, but pay.

penalties as well, he explained.
First offenders get penalties
equivalent to 100 per cent of the
overpayment. The penalties in-
crease with each subsequent of-
fence to a maximum of 300 per
cent,

The new penalties were in-
troduced last fall, but Jack said
it's uncertain what effect
they've had on abuse rates.

mene ded: a machines. be