ote tin hh SPS NOE pT EE —

——— ee
nek

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Finance and Corporate Rela-

tions Minister Mel Couvelier in-

troduced legislation last month
which he says will stabilize the
industrial component of muni-
cipal tax bases.

“The measures are being
taken to avoid the serious finan-
cial problems that unstable as-
sessments and retroactive assess-
ment changes have created for
many municipalities in the past
few years,’ Couvelier said.

‘They are not intended to in-

crease overall industrial proper-
ty, taxes or to severely affect
taxes imposed on any particular
firm.’’

According to Couvelier, Bill
67 sets out a new way to assess
industrial property, clarifies the

- composition of the industrial tax

base, restructures the Assess-

ment Appeal Board and im-

proves certain assessment appeal
procedures.
 Couvelier said the changes

will provide municipalities with

the. ability to impose a unique
tax rate on major industrial pro-
perty. But he added, “This im-
portant power is being given to
municipalities as a means of en-
suring tax base stability, not as a
mechanism for raising further
revenues from industry.”’

~ “However, notwithstanding
this objective, no explicit con-

trols are being placed on mun-

icipal use of this authority. This
is because the government
believes local governments know
the importance of industrial

: plants to their local economies

and. will use their enhanced
authority accordingly.”
-< He explained, ‘‘The new
method of industrial assessment
is being introduced so that pro-
perty owners, municipalities and
assessors can all have clear rules
on assessing such property.’
- He said the new approach
begins by calculating the cost to
rebuild a subject industrial
facility with its existing design
but using modern materials and
techniques, and then depreci-
ating that calculated value at
regulated rates. Couvelier added
that these rates will vary between
different industrial sectors and
‘will reflect the effective life of
the plant.

Couvelier also said that the

- new legislation clarifies the com-

position of the industrial tax
base.

“Kor years now,” he explain-
ed, “‘the use of outdated prin-
ciples has led to endless argu-
ments about what industrial im-
provements should and should
not be subject to municipal tax.

“The approach introduced in
this legislation,’’ he continued,
“limits exemptions to industrial
improvements exempted when
the government eliminated the

machinery and equipment prop--
erty tax in 1985 and to similar in-

dustrial improvements construc-
‘ted since that time.’’

Couvelier said that beginning
with the 1991 assessment roll,

- exemptions will be clearly defin-

ed for industrial improvements
constructed after 1989 by means
of a detailed listing of the pro-
perties to which they apply. .

In court .

Tin Térrace provincial court on
Wednesday, December 16 Kurt
Boehm was sentenced to. five

. days in jail for theft. Boehm also

yeceived an additional five-day

- consecutive sentence for failure

to appear in court.

“Assessment Act j
to be changed |

He said that the amendments
also restructure the assessment
appeal board by returning to the
uriginal principle of one board
to which appeals from courts of
revision can be referred. The
new board will have a perma-
nent, full-time chairman and a
number of vice-chairmen. Ap-
pointments to the board will be

made following approval of the

legislation and will reflect the
high levels of expertise needed to
deal with the diverse and com-
plex matters brought before the
board. |

According to Couvelier the
legislation will have an im-
mediate effect on many munici-
palities and should substantially
improve the stability of muni-
cipal tax bases by effectively
eliminating the. type of disputes
that have led to major property
tax refunds in the past.

‘ The Terrace Downtown Lions were one of the many local 8
_ Jubilee Civic Parade with their official uniforms and banners
of the city’s present day services and facilities have become

thelr predecessors. Represented in the Diamond Jubilee Civic

Fi ee LS TET wae een fgg ean nee ene

Terrace Review —

Wednesday, January 6, i988 19

ervice clubs who added color to the Dec. 27 Diamond
demonstrating years of dedicated civic service. Many
realities through the work of these volunteers and
Parade were the BPOE Elks Lodge 4285, the Royal
the Kinsmen and the Kinettes.

Purple, Rebekah Lodge 68, the Downtown Lions,

Betrayed by dreamers and demagogues

To the Editor;

I would like to express a sense
of betrayal and abandonment by
the Social. Credit government.
Although I did not vote for our

local Social Credit . represen-—

tative, ] was quite prepared to
accept the democratic will of the
majority. However, in my naive-
ty, | assumed that, once elected,
the MLA’s would make a credit-
able attempt to represent the
views of all of their constituents
and not simply use their majori-
ty to ram through legislation ex-
pressive of only their party’s
point of view without the pro-
mised consultation and careful

Insurance
confidence

Letter

To the Editor;

The Globe and Mail of Dec.
18 contained an article by
Angela Barnes that suggested

life insurance premiums would.

likely rise Jan. 1, 1988 due to the
investment income tax. It urged
consumers to contact their life
insurance agent regarding the

actions taken by specific com-

panies.

On Dec. 11, 1987 Mutual Life
announced the 1987 dividend
scale for permanent insurance
plans will be maintained for
another year. Therefore, in
1988, there will be no dividend
reduction on permanent in-

surance plans. Furthermore, the

term PRO dividends are being
improved effective in 1988.
With adverse Tax ‘‘Reforms”’
and the growth of claims due to
“AIDS”, many smaller com-

panies may be in a less advantag-

ed position; however, the major

insurance companies are well |

managed in diversified port-
folios. Indeed they are legislated

in this manner. One may con- 9.

tinue to look with confidence to

this fundamental financial in-

stitution.
The effects of the revised Tax

_ Reform proposals . will be

analyzed during the next several
months. Any action required as
aresult of increased taxes would
apply to the 1989 dividend scale,
within Mutual Life.

Thank you.

Frank Donahue |
Terrace, B.C,:

Letter

consideration.

Premier Vander Zalm has suc-
ceeded, through Bills 19 and 20,
in polarizing labor groups un-
necessarily, forcing a rigid
defense of principles at a time
when conciliation and compro-
mise were not only possible but
likely. The government’s drive
to privatize is, through the
Premier’s own admission, not
well thought-out. It is not
satisfactory to promote a radical
realignment of major. govern=
ment services and the groups
who provide these services solely
on the basis of idology. Certain-
ly, the studies done of
government services should have
been made available to the op-
position party so that a full
debate, with- sufficient time,
could have taken place. The pro-
cess followed to date causes me
to fear that the Social Credit
government does not consist of
proven, competent realists who
operate on sound business prin-

is yours for

~ Hew do you get your ad
os, into the Review?

@ drop it In our mail slot

@ mail It to us

@ come Into our office

@ phone us

®@ or stop us on the street

There will be no billing! Pay next time you
come In or next time you see us. We're work-
Ing the “Honor System”

- Terrace Review —

4535 Grelg Ave., Terrace

ciples, but of dreamers and
demagogues.

This fear is compounded by
the decentralization plan. I cer-
tainly do not consider such a

"system to be necessary for good

government in this province. 1
believe that if the democratic
principles which should govern
legislative debate were followed,
there would be no need for such

reforms. I can’t help but wonder .

if the system of regional minis-
teries is not simply one more
way of circumventing the
democratic process. which has
served us well in this province
for generations. :
The Social Credit government
has undertaken major initiatives
which were not part of its elec-
tion mandate and has done so in
a fashion which is an insult to
the people of this province and
to the legislative assembly. 1
urge Premier Vander Zalm to
stop; to return to his election
promise of consultation; to
reduce his haste in transforming
our province; and to respect the

You don’t have to
be rich to
advertise!

A classified ad in
the Terrace Review

“ONLY

(per week, 30 words or less)

citizens. enough to follow the
traditional rules: of the
legislature. Se

Terrace, B.C.

No truck yet

Nei! Lindseth and Pierre Jouy
of Bytown Diesel attended a
Terrace council Planning and
Public Works Committee
meeting recently to discuss the
advantages of purchasing a
Freightliner rather than a Mack
chassis for the new fire engine.

Some of the points raised in
comparing the two were that the
Freightliner is built of standard
components which are more rea-
dily available, better engine per-
formance and engine life and su-
perior cab access.

The committee made no
recommendations and further
discussion was tabled until the
next committee meeting when
Fire Chief Cliff Best will be in
attendance.

635-7840

jaime. y+

Frank Rowe 7