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CITY BUDGET ‘93 »

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 26, 1993 - Page A5

Belt-tightening eliminates jobs:

TERRACE — Council’s determination to keep tax hikes as low as possible has translated to no road building program this

~-yerr,

And that, in tum, means no work for. a number of local peopl.

- Council gutted the public works

- department’s--capital -budget- this

year, setting aside only $258,000. -That’s only ‘a third of the ’92 figure,

Apart from a couple of small lo-

- cal-improvement projects, work

on city strects will be limited to a

_ $100,000 recapping program.

Engincering director Stew Christensen explained that simply involves putting a layer of fresh

we paving on the road surface.

It’s the same type of job carried out on Kalum:St. north of Kalum

"several years ago, he added.

. In each of the past two years, the city has carried out extensive excavation and road bed rebuilds on several streets: last year it was ihe stretch of Kenney north of Hwy 16, —

Projects like that required the

.° ety to hire an extra 10 workers ~ for the season, Christensen said.

It was unlikely those people

~ would be needed this year.

However, it’s the privale con- tractors who will feel the cut backs most, he added, pointing out about three-quarters of the

~ work on such projects had in-

volved contracted equipment and

_.. workers. - As for which streets will be

recapped this | summer,

_... Christensen said that has yet to be “decided. .

Public works will assess

= priorities based on the amount of

traffic using the street and the

oe quality of the road base.

“It’s not much good recapping a road thai’s just going to break up anyway,” he pointed out.

And, which ever are selected, less than a kilometre of street will be involved, he — cautioned. ‘*$100,000 doesn’t go a long way,”

The only two major projects planned -for this -year ate. a.new sanitary sewer line on Graham from Eby to Kenney ($250,000) and a water line along Keith to Frank St. and north to the high- way.

However, neither are certain to go ahead.

The first depends on getting a provincial grant and Christensen said the city is not yet certain the water line is the best way to hook up with the proposed water well.

“Tf it?s not, it could be dropped,’? he said.

Although $400,000 has been set aside to develop that water well, he said it was unlikely anything more than design work would be carried out this year.

Confirming the project needed a 50 per cent provincial grant to go ahead, Christensen pointed out Victoria has only $50 million available but application to date total $114 million.

Turing to the department’s regular. operational budget, Christensen said its almost exact- ly the same as last (up just $36,000 to $2.18 million) despite wage increases.

Although that means a cut in real dollar terms, he said the de- partment would be trying to im- prove the efficiency of its opera- tions.

He therefore did not anticipate

-any significant reductions in

maintenance: jobs such as road sweeping.

Who gets what?

The owner of a house assessed at $100,000 will face a tax bill, before deducting the home-owners grant, of $1,809.66. Although the tax notice comes from the city, that’s not where ‘all the money goes. Below, a breakdown explaining where the

eash i is bound:

City of Terrace. saseenes sees vettntiitnnenaenese $824 “School District 88............ssscsessessssssserenssesecasseee 778 “Repayment of city det .......rsscssessererersees reareceseeee bLIO “Hospital board .,....ssssssessssesrseerseresessesseeereesennee P45 Regional district........... breteerseses vsstisneasesenstesnaetin $24

Local DUS SYStCM....:.2csersrsssessertesecresecnsenteccoresresees $18

B.C. Assessment Authority. seresseereseenesseeeesiersenensseeen PLO

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS. The good news is residents won't ba forced into taking detours this year because city crews and contractors are tearing up local streets. The bad news is there will be no major road improvement projacts and a number of people are not going to get summer employ- ment, Council, in trying to keep tax dill incraases to a minimum, slashed the public works capital projects budget by two-thirds. If the city had embarked on a full-scale road improvement program, taxes would have jumped by 12 per cent, treasurer Keith Norman explained.

Surplus drain | chicken comes. home to roost

Thornhill tax bite just a

TERRACE — Thornhill and

’ Lakelse Lake residents face no

significant tax hikes this year. Thornhill taxpayers will see their tax bills go up roughly three per cent this year, depending on what regional district services

’.they pay for and what their homes

were assessed at this year. . And homeowners in the other

“rural areas surrounding Terrace .— like Lakelse Lake, New Remo

and Kaium Lake Drive — could

/~ gctually. enjoy a two per cent

decrease in their tax bills, “The Kitimat Stikine Regional District's $5.8 million budget for

1993 includes a $1.9 million tax

levy from residents of local towns

-and wnincorporated areas.

“Some of the special projects ap- proved in this year’s budget in- clude house numbering at Lakelse Lake, Thornhill and north Ter-

“Tace. ©

- Here’s where the regional dis-

--. . triet-spends-most of your tax dol- a Jats:

‘* Thornhill Water System: $627,306 (-8%). Thornhill tax

‘levy... $15,900 . plus $99,000 ie "frontage taxes: -.# MEK Bay Marina: $587,667

(+8%) Loan repayments make up $104,000 of the expenses. The marina is budgeted fo earn more than $525,000 in revenues this year, That should more than balance operating expenses.

Levy: $27,662 from Terrace, $12,900 jrom Lakelse Lake/Electoral Area C, $6,100 from Thorahill/Electoral Area E.

* General Government Ser- vices: $581,000 (-6%) A $94,000 surplus and a $50,000 cut in aid grants to groups such as the Aurora Summer School of the Arts and’ the Kitimat Cross- Country Ski Club brings a sub- stantial decrease in the - taxes

_ paised for this Function in 1993.

Big ticket expenses are $220,000 in salaries and overhead and $75,500 in rent and maintenance.

Levy: $36,328 from Lakelse Lake/Electoral Area C, $17,000 Jrom Thornhiil/Electoral Area E, $76,667 from Terrace,

* Refuse Sites: $243,200 (+8%). A bylaw presently caps the tax levy for dump sites at $156,000 a year, That doesn’t even come close to meeting pres- ent annval dump expenses of $243,000,

That means the accumulated deficit on refuse sites climbs fram $166,000 to $248,000 by the end of this year.

Regional district directors are passing a new bylaw that will al- low them to increase the tax levy for dumps to as much as $500,000 a year slarting next year, That change must receive

-voter’s approval — either by

referendum or a counlerpetition. Levy: $60,391 from Lakelse Lake/Electoral Area C, $28,698 from Thornhill/Electoral Area E, ° Planning Services: $236,000 (0%). No change over last year. Levy: $60,679 from Thorn- hill/Electoral Area E, $32,382

' from Lakelse Lake/Electoral Area

C, $6,100 from Terrace.

* Recreation and Cemetery: $231,000 (+5%).

* Thornhill Fire Department: $212,499 (411%). Thornhill tax levy $201,941,

* Feasibility Study Reserve Fund: $177,000 (+254%). Haif of the increase comes from the re- quirement that the regional dis- trict begin preparing a solid waste management plan, in accordance with provincial government directives.

TERRACE -- Local taxpayers were protected from the full extent of city spending last year but in 793

there’s no such help.

That protection came in the form of using some of the city’s accumulated surplus from previous years to finance a portion of its expenditures. .

Last year, $352,000 was pulled from the surplus

account.

Based on treasurer Keith Norman’s estimate that a one per cent tax hike only raises: $65,000, it would have taken a 5.5 per cent lax hike to raise ‘the

same amount of money.

‘This-year; however, budget tints foutid the! tip-

Versterterye Petey

board effectively bate.

The combined effect-of the’. 1992; draw and ‘the. city running $57,000 over budget last year had left

a surplus of just $226,000.

Although that. may scem like a fair chunk of change, it is in fact lower than the $350,000 recom- mended. by the provincial government.

' ‘The idea of stashing away that amount is to have money available for an emergency, for example a major failure in the sewage treatment system which would require immediate and costly repairs.

nibble

Levy: $7,378 from Lakelse Lake/Electoral Area C, $3,485 from Thornhill{Electoral Area E, $15,825 from Terrace. —

* Thorahill Dog Cuntrol

$104,400 (-14%), Thornhill tax

levy $90,000.

* ‘Kitsumkalum Mountain: ©

$82,633 (-1%), The regional dis- trict continues to repay the capital debt on the long defunct Kitsum- kalum ski hill. It was supposed to start receiving interest payments from the Shames Mountain ‘Ski Corporation’ in January for. the Kitsumkalum lift - equipment Shames bought from the regional

district in 1986, Shames failed to

make the firsl. interest payment this year and has -asked. the

regional district to forgive the

loan. Shames isn’t scheduled to begin repaying the $320,000 prin- cial on the loan until 1996.

Tax levy: $19,000 from Ter- -

race, $9,000 from regional dis- trict.

¢ Terrace Library Cost- Sharing: $78,672 (+55%) Lasl

June, regional district residents .

voted in favour of paying a more. equitable share of the operating costs of the library.

¢ Thornhill Parks and Recrea-

Winners, losers

That’s not the way council would describe it, but some de- partments survived budget ‘prun- ing better than others.

Big winner was the building in- spection/by-law enforcement de- partment whose budget soared more than 30 per cent to $331,000.

Major factors were an addi- tional building inspector and more money for by-law enforce- ment and animal control.

Also well on the plus side was the fire department, its budget up 14 per cent to $853,000. Two thirds of that hike covers wages for an assistant fire chief and clerical/dispatcher post.

General government (adminis- tration) got a seven per cent lift to $917,000 primarily due to salary increases and the cost of this year’s municipal elections.

Victims of the long knives were the Tourism/Economic Develop- ment and Planning departments.

The former took a 26 per cent budget cut because a new TED officer will not be hired this year and the money available . for promotions was cut by a third.

The planning budget is down 16 per cent to $145,000, largely be- cause many costs associated with setting up the Official Com- munity Plan will not recur.

Recreation also got cut seven per cent with savings on pool wages and maintenance.

The budget balancing act was further complicated by a projected $100,000 drop in the amount of in-

terest the city would carn on investments compared

to last year.

While that is due in part to lower interest rates, Norman said it also reflected the fact the city had. less money to invest these days.

For example, it had been drawing heavily on the

so this year.

a thi

SUS

vehicle replacement fund and would continue to do

‘That fund stood at $1.3 million at the beginning of last year but by Dec, 31 was down by more than

aa fe added

er raise cake vo etpede +e

Asie With: approximately $500,000 catniatked ‘td be ‘spent this. year, including $150,000 on‘a'new ladder fire truck, there will be less than $400,000 left by the end of 1993,

The. overall result has been that to hold overall spending at.close to 1992 levels while still handing down an average 3.4 per cent tax increase, council had to scythe to some departmental! budgets.

Small wonder, therefore, that Darryl Laurent de- scribed the 1993 round as the toughest budget ses- sion of his five years on council.

$627,306 MK Bay Marina $587,667 | $581, 000

Refuse Sites . . $243, 200 .

: Planning. $236,000 |

1993 REGIONAL DISTRICT BUDGET: EXPENDITURES

Thornhill Water System

General Government. Services

eke Steacitna : S $2,149,879 Other $1,388,300

tion: $57,787 (-22%). Thornhill tax levy is $52,500.

* Thornhill Street Lighting: $57,200 (0%).

¢ Economic Development

Commission: $56,300 (4%). Levy: $7,000 from — Thorn-

hill(Blectoral Area E, $15,000 Jrom Lakelse Lake/Electoral Area (on ' : .

* Thornhill | Community Centre: $51,155 (-9%), Thornhill tax levy $36,000.

} the Start is for people. es learning. how. to read, «

Thursday was a big day last week.

Thirty-two (32) people became Canadian citizens.

They were sworn in at Clarence Michiel School.

The people came from

15 countries,

» They came from Brazil, - China, . Czechoslovakia, - England, _ Germany,

Citizens

Ghana, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, U.S.A. Vietnam and Turkey.

There were speeches and there were snacks.

Students from Clarence Michiel decorated their gym.

They also sang and did a dance for the new citizens ‘and guests,

Orenda

Orenda still wants to build a pulp mill.

But it needs $500 mil- lion.

Banks say they will loan Orenda money.

But they want the provincial government to give a loan guarantee. ——

That means. the banks will get some of. their money back if there is a big problem, :