DBIA Heads to Council With New Plan for Levy

Friday, December 11, 2009 03:59 AM

Prince George, B.C.- The request for a special levy for the Downtown Business Improvement Association will go before Council on Monday night.

DBIA President Kirk Gable says if Council approves the plan, the process will begin that will require 50% of the property owners and 50% of the assessed values saying no if the special tax is to be rejected. Gable expects that process will take until the end of February to complete meaning a new tax levy bylaw could be in place by the end of March.

At last check, the plan being presented to property owners called for them to pay $1.65 for every one thousand dollars of assessment to a maximum of $10 thousand dollars.

Gable told the Mayor’s Task Force for a Better Downtown the task force needs to do a better job of communicating it’s accomplishments “There is a real benefit to getting the good news out about what’s going on around this table. It would provide some level of comfort to property owners who are being asked to pay the levy.”

A previous attempt to renew the levy was overturned by the previous Council as the Council of the day said although the threshold for rejecting the levy had not been met, the process had been too divisive.

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Posted on Friday, December 11, 2009 03:59 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: skeptikl on December 11 2009 5:32 AM

why are they going with the negative petition again? that's what got them into trouble the last time. Why not be clear, have a proper "vote" and let the businesses speak for themselves, at MORE than 50%.

Posted by: faxman on December 11 2009 7:58 AM

"Gable told the Mayor�s Task Force for a Better Downtown the task force needs to do a better job of communicating it�s accomplishments"

I've been downtown. If something has been accomplished there it's probably not something you'd want to brag about.

Posted by: gus on December 11 2009 8:20 AM

"There is a real benefit to getting the good news out about what’s going on around this table. It would provide some level of comfort to property owners who are being asked to pay the levy.”

As faxman put it ..... tell me when it is done, not when it is being talked about .... we have seen talk, and even action before .... canopies gone, traffic lights gone .... one way streets gone ... new sidewalk pavement .... new corner widenings ..... no parking meters ... pretty blue lamps posts and bollard lighting ..... new court house ..... farmers' market .... new palza 400 + hotel ....

years and years of "improvements".

And we have what now? Same old, same old.

What is next? Water feature?

Posted by: EatsBushesShoots&Leaves on December 11 2009 11:12 AM

The merchants can't afford this crap. Period. Most are struggling as it is.

Posted by: He spoke on December 11 2009 2:29 PM

Get rid of the riffraffs, and I will go back down town.

Posted by: gus on December 11 2009 3:22 PM

We miss people like you, "he spoke".

It is those $79.56 a year purchases in downtown that are the straw that broke the camel's back.

- car purchase ... not downtown.
- grocery purchase .... not downtown
- clothing purchase .... not downtown
- fast food purchases ..... not downtown
- pub + coffee house purchases ... not downtown
- household purchases ..... not downtown

specialty purchases ..... some still downtown

In other words, the large bulk of the discretionary goods and services purchases are spent in suburbia. Very few will ever return back "downtown" just on the basis of "riffraff" removal.

Posted by: EatsBushesShoots&Leaves on December 11 2009 3:59 PM

Careful. Some lefty clown is gonna come on here & start yapping about how the 'disadvantaged' are NOT riffraff but victims of some type of evil plotted, conceived by middle aged white men. The name will likely start with an 'a' & end with 'morron'.

Posted by: Harbinger on December 11 2009 4:20 PM

Maybe as soon as some poor sap of a business owner downtown sticks a coat of paint on his business, the assessors from city hall will be there before the paint drys to reassess his taxation situation. Gotta tax those improvements. Right? Can't keep upping the garbage tax. The villagers are getting restless.

Posted by: MrPG on December 11 2009 8:19 PM

gus hit the nail on the head. Why would I go down there exactly, riffraff notwithstanding? I can get everything I need at the big boxes or the mall.

Posted by: Vdesign on December 13 2009 8:51 AM

Perhaps we could give bus tickets to the riffraff, to send them to a warmer place for the winter, like say Vancouver?

Honestly though, there is very little to attract people downtown.

Northern Hardware, Amigos Taco Shop, Wasabi Sushi, Final Chapter, Pastry Chef, B&B Music, Something Old and Something New Antiques are all great stores and get me downtown, but without good word of mouth advertising, these places will not make it.

Perhaps promoting those good businesses in the core is a good step towards keeping them in the downtown.

Maybe instead of trying to get that high-rise with businesses at street level, we start halfway with two story "townhouses", with businesses below with owner residences above.