Gosh, how many regular taxpayers dollars is it going to take to make up the difference.
Or maybe George will say, "What the heck, a million here, or a million there, not even deserving of mention."
We'll just borrow the difference.
Think maybe it is time to "sell out. and get out," while the gettin's good.

I agree--I don't want to send anyone to Italy either. Let 'em stay here and pay taxes with the rest of us or pay their own way to Italy.

Mercy Sakes-I can just imagine all the "sour grapes" comments forthcoming over that Italy trip.
Yes, the majority of us are responsible for our own journeys abroad.
Never a "good time" or all "expense paid" trip paid for by taxpayers.
Just not in the right league.
If the votes had gone differently, that broad beam of a smile on Offet's face could have possibly been wiped off.
The Cheshire Cat grin on Kinsley's face would have been removed.
But No, the people brought back the problems and sat them in their chairs.
Now pay the price-and you damn well should.
I do not feel sorry for the lot-as the saying goes, "Be careful what you ask for."
This round you are really going to get yours!!

What an incredible bunch of complainers on this blog...

You all cry for downtown revitalization and the City comes up with a creative tax deferral scheme to stimulate downtown revitalization.

So then you complain about 'lost' tax dollars that the general public will have to make up..??

Duh..???

Just shut up and put your efforts into making this town a better place, instead of whining.

Well said Jethro,I've said it before and I will say it again,this is not the sunny okanagan and it is not downtown Vancouver.This is PG and in order to have outside investment we will need to sweetin the pot whether we want to or not.
Rock

Hey-do not think I am complaining.
I am simply being entertained.
For nigh onto 30 years that flogging of the dead horse has been City Halls sport, (known as revitalization of the downtown).
I appreciate a good joke as much as the average person-so don't let me stop these clowns.
Are they having fun yet??

If you want to talk about tax deferrment how about this scenario.
The Royal Bank moves out of Downtown because of re-structering or whatever. This leaves an empty building in a run down area that cant be sold, however you have to pay taxes every year. What to do? What to do? Light comes on*** Lets give the building to the University, that way we can avoid tearing it down to avoid taxes, and we can avoid taxes, because the University will have to pay them. In addition the University can spend scads of money on renovations. The city continues to collect taxes. Score RBC/City one point. Taxpayers zero.
Next scenario. Canadian Tire moves to Hiway 16 and builds new building. Problem is it has an old building downtown that it must still pay taxes on. Solution is sell building to CNC this will give us a few millions for the sale, save us the cost of tearing down or paying taxes on emtpy building and CNC can pay taxes, plus millions on reno. Score one point for Cdn tire/City. Taxpayers Zero.

What...????

How in the world are the 'taxpayers of Prince George' (us) affected by who owns either the old Bank of Montreal building (not the Royal Bank) or the old Canadian Tire Building???

Where do these ridiculous conspiracy theoryesque ideas come from?

Oh my, I do get weary of ridiculous statements.
IF the City of Prince George purchased the Royal Bank Building-that would imply there will be no property taxes forthcoming to City Hall.
RIGHT???
If they purchase other buildings downtown-then no taxes are collected, and they maintain the responsibility of the upkeep and maintenance on buildings they own.
How does the city do this???
THEY USE THE TAXPAYERS MONEY.
SO-it is a cost to the taxpayers of the city, as that is where City Hall receives their money from.
Is that so hard to understand?
We are not all hillbillies???

The University and CNC will have to pay the city taxes on these buildings. The taxpayers of B.C. (you and I) pay for the operation of UNBC and CNC therefore we pay the taxes on these buildings. Its that simple. If the buildings remained in private hands they would have to pay the taxes.

So...

There should be no publicly owned buildings, because they put a burden on the 'taxpayer' (us)...?

Do you really expect universities, colleges, city halls, municipal governments, etc., etc. to 'rent' facilities from the private sector?

How much of a burden to the 'taxpayer' (us) would that be?

Sounds like a ridiculous piece of dog-logic to me.

dog logic tells me if the city of Prince George purchases numerous buildings that for the period of ownership-until it is sold to a private party- there is no property tax paid on it, and the city must maintain and pay the costs involved with upkeep.
Does this sound reasonable? or is the dog logic that the city owns no buildings, so the taxpayers are off the hook?
If no taxes are paid on city owned buildings, where is the shortfall to come from to support the city budget?
Does it sound reasonable that the taxpayer gets an increase in the mill rate, and therefore in all liklihood an increase in taxes to cover the shortfall?
Well, it may be enlightening to find out just what the city does own downtown, and if they own nothing-then we can all claim to be hillbillies.
Fair????

Bark bark..

Woof woof...!

If the City buys a property, we (taxpayers) own it as a capital asset, against which dough can be borrowed for operational requirements (like maintenance and upkeep)...

There's not some evil conspiracy of 'politicians' trying to micro-manage property ownership in this town, so that Johnny Six-Pack has to pay more taxes.

When will this blog understand that civic governments(whether conservative or liberal in their politics) are NOT from outerspace and set on screwing the mythical 'little guy'..?

We ALL pay civic taxes... smart or dumb, wealthy or impoverished, good looking or... er... not so good looking...

Reasonably responsible local governments will make reasonably responsible decisions on behalf of the people that elected them.

Things like tax deferrals to stimulate the maintenance and improvement of POS buildings in downtown PG are completely reasonable.

Get on with it.

In a perfect world you would be right, however you are living in a dream world. The BMO closed their building downtown. Later when their bank burned down in the old Yellowhead Building they moved further up the street. At that time they could have moved back to their empty building downtown but chose to rent facilities west of the bypass. Obviously they felt there was no reason to go downtown.

The point I try to make it not a CONSPIRACY, however think about it for a minute. The bank cant sell their building downtown, but they have to pay taxes, heat it, and maintain it. The alternative is to tear it down to reduce taxes.

Now""" Do you think that UNBC approached the Bank and asked them to give them this building for nothing, OR do you think the Bank approached UNBC and offered to give them this building. By giving away the building they obviously did not think that property values were going to rise, or they would have kept it. By giving away the building they no longer have to pay taxes, nor do they have to maintain it. Plus they get some good publicity as being a good corporate citizen. At this point the City loses the private business taxes it used to get from this building and will in the future get the taxes from us the taxpayer as we pay for the operation of the UNBC. If we spent the money to make space available at UNBC as we should have we would still have to pay some additional taxes, however the city would continue to collect taxes from the bank, or whoever owned the property downtown and we would have a net gain. As it is we have a net loss of the Private Business tax from this property. You will note that Sears tore down their Gas Station/Tire/Service store at Pine Centre Mall rather that continue to pay taxes on the building. This however is also expensive.
The other issue of course is **Can the donation of this building to UNBC be tax deductable**

. Who knows?

Anytime you want to look at your tax dollars you have to look at them in termns of Municipal,Regional,Provincial,and Federal. All these levels of Government run on your tax dollar. Anytime a politician trys to tell you we can afford something because we can get money from the Province, or Federal Government he is just blowing smoke. Its still taxpayers money and it came out of your pocket.

What you have in this country are four levels of Government competing to see who can spend the most money.
Look at some of the announcements made by the Liberals in the last few days, it should give you a hint.

dog logic loses!
We are not all hillbillies!