|
The past few weeks have been busy with both city and work business. I was
in Victoria and had an opportunity to meet with the Deputy Ministers for
Energy Mines and Resources. We talked about BC Hydro taxation. The City
receives a grant in lieu of taxes which has remained at the same level of
$954,832 since 1994. When we first received the grant it represented about
39% of our property tax revenue but as it hasn't kept up with inflation it
is now at 25% of our property tax revenue. In the last 5 years the
province has increased it's own revenue from BC Hydro by 55%. If the dam
was fully taxed at the utility rate we would be entitled to millions of
dollars in local property taxes. We are not asking for full taxation but
we do expect BC Hydro to make a significantly higher contribution to the
City’s property tax revenues than at present. I hope this will initiate
some discussions on the whole issue of taxation and remain optimistic that
a more equitable formula will be put in place.
I had the pleasure of
welcoming an exchange group from Ono Cho, Japan. This is the 5th year we
have had this exchange coming to Revelstoke. I also met a City Council and
planning group from South Korea who are interested in Revelstoke's
planning processes as well as our state of the art water treatment
facility.
The pool committee met with
Council to talk about the next steps of the indoor aquatic centre becoming
a reality. This was also discussed during Council’s retreat in January.
The positive referendum vote in November has made the pool a major
priority for Council. We are still waiting for approval of our grant
applications and will hit the ground running once these are in place. In
the meantime, grants and donations are still being sought, we have to make
this pool not only a reality but it has to be as affordable as possible.
Special thanks to the Indoor Pool Committee as well as to the groups that
have come forward with donations.
Mark McKee
Mayor
|
