Municipal Tax Bill Up By More Than 7%

Wednesday, February 28, 2007 06:30 PM

In all, your residential tax bill will be increased by 7.20469% or about $89 dollars on a home that had been assessed at $133 thousand dollars ( the "average" assessment in P.G.)

Prince George City Council has approved the 4% road rehab tax levy, on top of the 2.4% overall budget increase. The difference, .8%,is made up of:

the increase in staffing to the RCMP ( .4%) and the other service enhancement items. The impact of service enhancements was minimized as Council decided to fund some one time funding enhancements through the general operating surplus which stands at $8.8 million dollars.

Here is the final list of items presented to Prince George City Council, the decision and the increase to the “average” residential tax bill:

Snow and Ice Control Trails and Walkways:

Request for ongoing funding. DENIED

Value $90,000 no impact on tax bill

Mayor says this kind of work should be done within the existing budget. Development Services Bob Radloff says it would be at the bottom of the list after all other areas had been looked after for snow removal

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Maintain Traffic Control Support:

Request for ongoing funding APPROVED

Value $30,000 no impact as funds have been found in base budget

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Increased Bike Lanes:

Approved

Value$30,000 Impact $.62

Councillor Glenn Scott said he was not in favour because there are other more important things than 41 kilometers of painted lines and signage.

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Enhanced Pothole Patching:

DENIED

Value $213,000 Impact $4.59

Councillor Don Zurowski says it may be a good thing, "But we can only go so far in one area" in reference to the road rehabilitation levy which adds 4% to the residential tax bill. Other Councillors said although they think this is a good idea, the dollars saved through paying off the debt for road repair could be used for this item.

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Improve Existing Road Markings:

funded from base budget APPROVED

Value $58,000 no impact dollars are coming from increased revenue from development cost charges.

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Asset Manager/Downtown Facilitator:

funded from base budget APPROVED

Value$42,000 no impact , dollars coming from rural infrastructure fund

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Staff Development Program

DENIED

Value: $80,000 Impact $1.70

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Prince George Public Library:

APPROVED

Value $153,075 Impact: $3.23

Councillor Shirley Gratton says the Library funding per capita in Prince George is below the provincial norm, and the dollars are needed.

Councillor Bassermann was the only one to oppose.

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Community Enhancement Grants

APPROVED

Value:$6,000 Impact $0.13

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Accessible Inclusive Community Cities Program:

Revised request, originally asked for $20,000, revised amount is $6960

APPROVED

Value $6,960 impact $0.15

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Carney Hill Neighbourhood Centre Plan:

one time funding request APPROVED

Value $10,000 no impact it will be funded by the city's surplus funds

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P.G. Athletic Commission:

one time funding request APPROVED

Value $7535 Impact none, dollars are being taken from surplus funds

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Northern Medical Programs Trust:

one time funding request APPROVED

Value $150,000 Impact none, funds are coming from surplus funds

City is still on the hook for a further 150 thousand next year.

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Habitat for Humanity:

one time funding request DENIED

Value $20,400 dollars were to come from the surplus funds This is the project which involved a lot on Norwood, that is within the 200 year floodplain. The development costs on this lot were pegged at $56,501. the City has already absorbed $36,501. dollars. Councillor Murry Krause said while he supported the work of Habitat for Humanity, he was concerned about what kind ofmessgae this would send if the City absorbed all the costs.

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The following are items which may be partially or fully funded by other programs offered by the Provincial or Federal Government. Their approval is expected to have no impact on the tax base

Sanitary Sewar Trap and Separator:

Value $35,565 approved

Water Main Valve Maintenance:

Value$108,159 approved

Increased Event Grant:

Value$15,000 approved

Initiatives Prince George: Tourism

Value $20,000 approved

Initiatives Prince George - Events

Value $60,000 deferred to Administration

Funding from Tourism grants is not confirmed, City Manager Derek Bates says if the Council approved this item the City would be responsible for the full amount. According to Bates, Initiatives Prince George is already incurring some expenses under this program even though the source of funding is not clear.

Councillor Bassermann says if the funds helped us attract one team to train here, with 16 athletes, 4 coaches, and they enrolled in a program at the University, the return would be about 300 thousand dollars to the community. Bassermann said given that, he would hate to lose an opportunity. Councillor Sherry Sethen said Initiatives Prince George's budget has already been approved and for IPG to "assume the City will pick up the tab for extra costs is false."

Bio-Energy Conference Dinner ( 2008)

Value $12,000 approved for 2008 budget

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Posted on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 06:30 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: jonnypg on February 28 2007 9:39 PM

Assessed at $133 thousand dollars ( the "average" assessment in P.G.)...Maybe two years ago! that $89 is going to be way over $100 for the average homeowner!

Posted by: owl on February 28 2007 9:48 PM

"Councillor Murry Krause said while he supported the work of Habitat for Humanity, he was concerned about what kind of messgae this would send if the City absorbed all the costs."

Hmmm ... how about the message that this city would get a bit closer to assisting Habitat in a similar fashion as they do in other communities in BC and Canada.

The interesting thing about this issue is that if one were to build a single family dwelling on the property that is about 80 feet wide there would be no Development Cost Charges. The same holds if one were to build a duplex on the property with a single ownership. Often done. Someone builds a duplex and rents both sides out, or lives in one and rents out the other. No DCC if someone were to do that.

However, they wish to divide the property or strata the property so that there are two titles. As soon as that happens, it has to be approved under the Subdivision Bylaw. That is where the DC charges come into play. The request to subdividing was the trigger.

Habitat is made up of volunteers who are not necessarily experts in such matters. In my opinion, organizations such as that ought to be able to get some assistance from City Hall to lead them through the bureaucracy. Many others in the community are assisting them, why not City staff at the desk in the first instance, and Council in the second instance?

When the fact a legal division can mean some additional $50,000 to the city there is something wrong with the system.

The fact is that this lot was part of a subdivision already. Porter to the east of Norwood was not paved or any other improvements made. They should have been made a long time ago. The fact that someone now wished to divide the property is fortuitous for the City's coffers. The fact that Habitat fell into the trap is unfortunate.

Staff gave the right advice. Council did not dig far enough to find out why they gave that advice. At least that is my view from what I understand from the situation.

Posted by: Chadermando on February 28 2007 9:53 PM

Housing starts in the US dropped by 200,000 homes projected annually last month. 930,000 vs 1,130,000.

Locals mills will likely be making decisions in light of high prices beetle wood salvage, as well as the bottom dropping out of the market.

I don't see much that can mitigate the impacts of this for Prince George and region. Throughout the softwood tarrifs we had a market growing at 20% a year. This new market will be different IMO.

----------------------------------
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=apRkhifEnNUY&refer=news

Homebuilding also weighed on growth last quarter. Residential construction fell at an annual rate of 19.1 percent, compared with an 18.7 percent drop the previous three months. The decline, the biggest since 1991, subtracted 1.2 percentage points from growth, the GDP report showed.

An oversupply of unsold houses caused builders to retrench last month, signaling construction will keep weighing on growth. Builders in January started work on the fewest number of new homes since August 1997, a Commerce Department report earlier this month showed.

Posted by: acrider54 on March 1 2007 6:26 AM

AHHHRGRGG, more taxes, give me a raise so I can pay, what a joke!

Posted by: thereasonableman on March 1 2007 2:14 PM

Bio-Energy Conference Dinner ( 2008)
Value $12,000 approved for 2008 budget

Increased Bike Lanes:
Approved

Enhanced Pothole Patching:
DENIED

Initiatives Prince George: Tourism
Value $20,000 approved

Initiatives Prince George - Events
Value $60,000 deferred to Administration

----------------------------------------
What more do I need to say about this council's priorities ?

We can afford to party it up to the tune of a $12,000 dinner, and we can spend $80,000 on events to promote tourism in "mill town" Prince George, when places like McBride, Valemount and Smithers are nearby and much more attractive, but we can't afford to patch potholes. I agree...if tourists won't stop here, we'll make them stop. Leave the roads in such deplorable condition that they bust their suspension on the way through, and have to stop over for a few days for repairs.

Didn't we already say f*k you to the tourists by imposing that bylaw about parking motorhomes at Wal-Mart ?

It doesn't matter that it's now been changed, the news of the new anti-camping bylaw was spread initially and that's all people have heard, and that's all they will remember.

And who the hell would ride a bike to work in Prince George ? Never mind six months of snowbanks and narrow roads, even in the summer you are likely to be choked to death by the dust and the smell of the pulp mills. That's if you don't get run down first. I rode my bike to work for the first two years I lived here and it hasn't moved since, so I speak from experience.

How about running the city of Prince George like it was Prince George, not Vancouver. You can't just sit back and do whatever they do. Copycats.

Posted by: Chadermando on March 1 2007 9:51 PM

If they paint bike lanes on our road, then they don't have to build and maintain the city trail systems.

Painting a spot for someone to ride their bike along side vehicle traffic on Foothills blvd cost a third of the cost of building and maintaining real urban trails. It shows 'vision'.

Posted by: owl on March 2 2007 12:25 AM

If they use thick paint, they can prevent potholes in those areas.

I really do not understand the denial of the improved pothole fixing services. There must be something I am missing.

Or perhaps it is the Councillors who are missing something. ;-)

I say we use our cell phones and have the pothole complaint number on speed dial this spring so that we can all phone them in as we drive around the community. They work on complaints, so let's take them at their word and complain. After all, if we do not, then they think that we really do not care.

Posted by: duffer on March 2 2007 9:00 AM

In my opinion painting the lines for bicycles is only a "feel good" thing. the councillors can now say they have done something green. Is it going to make the riders any safer? No. Is it going to make the riders obey the rules of the road? No. This is only another poorly thought out waste of money. They could have used $20,000.00 of this for Habitat for Humanity and given someone a place to live. No, they have to feel they are doing something for the environment. Stupid, stupid.

Posted by: Palopu on March 2 2007 9:50 PM

So now you can see how much respect that the Mayor and Council have for the Citizens of Prince George.