Prince George, B.C.- There is just one week to go before the clock runs out on the alternate approval process for the bylaw that would create a special levy for businesses in the downtown of Prince George.

If the bylaw is to be defeated, City Hall would have to receive notice of   opposition from 51%   of the property owners, representing 51% of the assessed values of properties in the  area.  Those notices of opposition   have to be filed with City Hall by February 15^th.

Those who oppose the proposed levy have had difficulty in locating all of the property owners who would be impacted by the levy.    “We received a list from the   Downtown Business Association” says Coast Inn of the North General Manager Kelli Steer, “The list is grossly incomplete, the Inn of the North is not on there, the Ramada is not on there, a lot of the large property owners were not on this list. Information was very incomplete. We thought it was very ironic considering the DBIA can reach all of these business owners so they must have complete information somewhere.”

Steer says there is no way of knowing if the current property owners have even received the City’s notice of the pending bylaw. The City used the tax roll  to send out  notices, but  says  it cannot provide that list to anyone else as  it would  violate  the  Protection of Privacy Act.

Steer says their best hope is that City Council will hear the negativity about the  process ( the reverse petition) re- launch the process “And say rather than a negative vote, we can go with a positive vote.”

The proposal from the DBIA would spend a little over $100 thousand on wages and administration, $27 thousand on the flower basket program, $40 thousand on a Clean and Safe Program and $35 thousand on marketing.

“A lot of those things we are talking about, are things the city has looked after,” says Steelworkers Local 1-424 President Frank Everitt, “These initiatives I think, should directly come out of City Hall, and if there is something in particular they might canvass the community to see who would support that in a financial way. As far as marketing  goes, that’s something someone could add to their responsibilities within the City   or through Initiatives( Initiatives Prince George)   They are already there in my mind, It’s just a different way of securing a tax   increase to subsidize things that are going on.”