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_ T. ‘no one’s surprise, ' the
first budget delivered by the B.C.

New Democrats will cost everyone
more tax money, although most:of

the weight falls on people who

have incomes in excess of $70,000 ©
and ‘own property valued above

the mid-point: of the assessment

scale. The cost of alcoholic bever- | _

ages, with the exception of draft
beer, went up about 5%, indexing
was removed from tobacco to be
replaced by a flat tax, and the 6%

social services tax now applies to

legal services. .-.. |

The provincial’ income tax,
assessed as a percentage of the
federal tax, went up 1%,. which
amounts to the province reclaim-
ing a 1% surtax break that came

‘with the federal budget. The cor- -

porate income tax went up by the
same margin in both classes, to
10% for the first $200,000 of
income and 16% for income above
that threshold. The NDP brought

back the corporation capital tax,

applied at a rate of .3% to corpor-
ations with paid-up capital assets
over $1 million. The budget also

- introduced a list of exemptions for
the latter, including capital in-
vestment on pollution control

measures.

" Property taxes will be affected

by the abolition of the supplemen-

tary home owner’s grant, which.

_ used to apply on a sliding scale to
_ taxes payable in excess of the
basic home owner grant. The ~

basic grant has been raised $20 to -
$450. . |

‘Terrace city treasurer Keith

Norman said this week that, all
other things being equal, the
repeal of the supplementary grant
will raise the tax payable on a
house valued at $75,000 in the
municipality by about $120. The
taxes on a house valued at
$200,000, he said, could go up by
as much as $500. Norman said
the assessment threshold at
which home owners run out of
grant credit and start paying real
money on their taxes ‘is abou
$47,000. 7

Norman added that the

budget has apparently reduced .

the grant from the province to the

municipality. by about $69,000, —

which means city council will
‘have to carve that much off its

- draft budget or raise the revenue

in some way.

Non-residential property

_ taxes, - including business ' and

industry, were raised by 6%. On

Wednesday Skeena Cellulose -

senior vice president Reg Light-

foot said the company hasn’t been —
able to analyze all the effects of —

the budget on their finances,
other than to be certain it’s going
to cost them, — a

Rob" Bennett, a tax policy .

analyst for the ministry of finance
in’ Victoria; said that at first

glance it appears that the prop-

erty tax. effect in the regional

district ‘won't be significant for-
most residential property owners.

“Tt’shard to generalize because

_ the assessed values vary consider-

ably," he said, adding that.it-looks
like the changes will affect. only

the assessment curve..

Terrace Review — April 3, 1992

somarmshnerea 107

the properties in the top 40% of |

COMFORT FOR THE MOOSE

Property taxes go up, and we might get new CO's:

‘The basic tax rate on rural
residential properties" was ©
increased by 3%. Skeena MLA
Helmut Giesbrecht said Monday
the increase was to cover the cost
of maintaining secondary ‘roads —
and other rural services provided
by the province.
Giesbrecht said it will be—
impossible to tell what benefits
are in the budget for the North-
west region until the funding gets
broken down for specific minis-
tries. and branches, He did note -
that there is provision for the |
hiring of an additional 20 conser-
vation officers throughout the
province and it is likely some of
those will be assigned to this.
area, a move that would come as
an immense relief to the over-
loaded CO's in the Terrace office.
. The budgets for health and

_gocial services were increased, but
‘much of the increase comes as a
 counteractive measure to reduced

federal transfer payments under
the Canada Assistance Plan. The.

B.C. Lottery corporation income
has been fragmented into alloca-
tions for. individual ministries,
with health to get 50%; Policy will
" place emphasis on illness preven-
tion and community-based well-
‘fess programs rather than acute

care. Mills .Memorial Hospital

' administrator Michael Leisinger
~ gaid it’s too early to tell what

effect the money shift and policy
might have on the local facility.
Medical Services Premiums

have been frozen at their present

level, doctor’s billings to the plan
will be limited, and the $25 mil-.

‘ Jion the province put. into the