‘Vol. 3, Issue No. 47 ne re ee Barbara Ross the rise School District 88 has advised Terrace city council that: the ‘school tax levy could i increase by _ another 25 to 30 percent next . year if provincial’ funding re-_ mains the same. ‘by Tod Strachan But in a. recent interview, School District - 88 Secretary- Treasurer Barry Piersdorff, _ said, ‘‘I’m not sure that that in- dication isn’t a little premature.”’ ‘Piersdorff said the whole i issue of school taxation is a complex issue to try to explain because of different fiscal periods used by the province, the Ministry of Education and the city. But in simple terms, last year’s in- . crease, due to. changes in the ministry’s funding formula, _ Meant tax increases were Necessary for two consecutive years. He explained that 40 percent of last year’s increase (for _. September to December |987) ' was paid for during the city’s - 1987 fiscal year, and what the _-faxpayer faces now is the 60 per- - ’ cent balance of that increase (for ‘January to June 1988), plus 40 percent. of the district’s 1988-89 funding (for September to December 1988), in the city’s ' 1988 fiscal year. He added that the reason for this complexity is the difference ‘between the’ city’s fiscal year (January to December) and the district’s fiscal year (September to June). “So if your taxes went 7 -up so.much this year, that was only. 40 percent of the increase. Still sitting out there, is the other 60 percent waiting to amortized over the next year.”’ Piersdorff said that according to ministry statistics, if provin- cial funding and the district TERRACE, B. C. WEDNESDAY, November 25, 1987 Pool expansion — “Yes Legislative Library, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4 “Sunday shopping - — “No : ‘reninace _ “No” to holiday ‘Shopping. “*Yes”” to the pool ex- pansion. Hallock, Takhar, and ‘Sheridan for city council. And Ross and. Pousette for school ' trustee. by Tod Strachan That was the people’s choice - _ in the highest voter turnout in 4. years with 3,872 of 5,468 possi- ~ ble voters casting their ballots at the city polls, a 70 percent turn- out, and a 60 percent showing at the rural polis to vote.in new: regional district directors and school trustees, The ‘‘Holiday Shopping” ref- _ erendum was defeated decisively by an almost two to one vote, with 2,093 voters saying ‘‘no’”’ compared to the 1,232 residents _ that favored the proposal, but it was a different story for the pool - expansion where voters favored the idea by a 2,040 to 1,161 ° - School taxes. on again Operating budget remain the. same for the 1988-89°school ” year, this will mean a tax in- -crease of about $87 to the average homeowner, * - ~ As an example, Piersdorff said, “If the board’s budget in- creases by three percent, and-the ‘provincial government funds it . an additional three percent, then in terms of dollars and cents we’re probably. facing an in- crease of 25 to 35 percent,”’ - He said the amount of any in- crease is impossible to predict accurately at this time because next year’s operational increases are still unknown and: the government’s level of funding. yet to be determined. He added a positive note however, by saying that local taxpayers. may get a break because there has been an in-’ crease in the number of students. registered during the~ current school year, for which the board could receive additional money _from the ministry and use it to. offset next year’s increase. “In other words, we .could carry a surplus into next year to offset the taxes,’ he said. _. Piersdorff said that the board had received public concern over rising taxes in the past and had continued on page 24 - Incumbents top polls. margin, ‘Ruth Hallock finished with a strong lead in. the aldermanic race with 2,017 votes, while Mo Takhar and. Danny Sheridan ‘earned seats on city council with ee 896 and 1,737 votes respective: y. Helmut Giesbrecht said it was his last try at a municipal post . _after he lost a close race with ‘Sheridan by only 26 votes. Barbara Ross commanded the polls for one of the two Terrace school trustee positions with a whopping 2,556 votes, followed by retiring Kitimat-Stikine Regional District Administrator, John. Pousette, who earned a comfortable 1,768 votes. Out of the running for trustee: seats but ready to try again were newcomers Bob Branning with 1,170 votes and George Kozak with 785, Terrace Returning . Officer Murdo McDonald said he was - Pleased: with: the showing and - said it ‘indicated great public. -concerii_ Over the: issues: involved: Returning Officer. Elaine . Johnson said the rural vote was .also well above normal, Par; ticularly in the Hazelton area. Voted in for the single Hazel- © ton trustee ‘position was Kath- leen Ludwig with 344 -votes,. ahead of Duncan Etches with 175. Kirsten Chapman regained. her Stewart position by acclama- tion. ; Regional district seats went to, Area ‘A’; Harry Nyce with 157 votes (6 out of 7 polls repor> ting); Area ‘B’, Gordon Sebas- tian with 210; Area ‘C’, Gordon Robinson by. acclamation: Area ‘D’, Daniel Pakula with 84 (2 out of 3 polls reporting); and Area. ‘E’, Les Watmough who won by acclamation, Other contenders for regional district directorships who didn’t _ quite make it were Area ‘A’, Samuel Munroe,-82, and incum- bent Percy Tait, 50; ‘Area ‘B’, Fred. Roisum, 104, Colin Chas- . teauneuf, 50, and. Vernon Ste- phens, 19; and Area ‘D’, Gor- don Frank, 47. Ail local candidates who won their selected positions said they ~ were very pleased with the high voter ‘turnout, thanked their supporters and gave a few hints of what to expect over the next. | few: years. Alderman Ruth Hallock said — | she was “‘a little surprised’? but a Nov. 16 - Nov. 22 | Outside Date - HE Lo Prec. Nov. 16 - o 4 nil Nov, 17 1 4 a cm snow Nov, 18 | .B cm snow Nov. 19 2 -1 356 mm mixed Nov. 20 4.0 3.4mm mixed . Nov. 21 2 06 4.2mm mixed Nov, 22 2 06 1mm mixed Forecast: Cloudy conditions with perioda of mixed rain and snow. Highs of 2 and tows of 0 to 1. Inside Business Guide ; 12 Church Directory 10 Classified Ads ee QV. ComingEvents $= sah: Comics -- 20. Crossword 20 Dining Directory 2. Entertainment te 6. Horoscope mo 23 Letters / 4, 6,7 ' Opinions : 4 Sporia 8 Stork ; 6 Talk of the Town ° 6 . that the holiday shopping ques- _ tion had been settled “once and - decision that should be left. in _ have long been in need of some “delighted” that she topped the polls in the aldermanic race and ° said she was also “‘very pleased” for all’’. . “T’ve always felt that it ‘was something that the electorate had to decide for themselves,” she said. ‘‘I didn’t feel it was a ‘the hanas of council-alone, and I’m-very pleased that the people have spoken and they’ ve spoken very firmly,’’ Hallock added that ‘she. was - happy with the public response to the pool expansion, ‘‘We of the additions that we propos- ed to put in under this referen- dum, and I’m sure that the addi- tion to the pool facility will be very much utilized and appre- ciated by everyone.’’ © Although. Hallock said. ‘she: had no specific goals for her new | three year .term, she. ‘hoped: to. maintain, if not speed’ up;: ‘the: economic:recovery inthe area. © “Terrace has sort of been on a’ - steady kind of progress path for the past two to three years and | hope we are able to speed up the pace somewhat. I would like to: follow that careful return to a . stable economy in the area.’ Hallock said another project she would like to see developed is a five to ten year plan to “totally” rebuild the city streets. “*They’re badly in need of re- building,’? she said. “But of course. that’s going. to take a ‘tremendous. amount of money and can’t be expected to come - -continued on page 24 Yt ae eee aes apatites z AAA PO ENA ie chee wee thee SN pe Oe es gee “ aa Ruth Hallock oe: 2 ME es RES: Oe es Sg ee a = . eae : won — en _ - so ee ee ri Lyn and Jack Billar are the people running the show at th Mount Layton Hot Springs Resort by Lakelse Lake. Merritt and have extensive experience In the hotel m profiles of the people who run this spectacular new ‘See page 16, — 6 Fecentily-opsned The Billars are from anagement fleid. For recreation complex, ML CELA EARS TATE IE GN a ET ee Que fala L qeacer te Saco Betas 5 cok Be! een nce toe a bee SE a ee bap = i aig ee nS ve prea rowed = nee CEES ay Sp Re ee