City Council for the High Jump!

Herb and the gang are in favor of the high jump, the hop, skip and jump, long jump and relays. Should they get their way with their current budget plans, the long awaited repairs to the Charles Hays track will finally see the light of day. The track which has come into some disrepair over the last few years as money got tighter and tighter, is one five priorities listed by city staff as the most likely to be addressed with new monies in hand.

Also up for immediate attention are the work yards roof, RCMP cells and the fire hall roof. All of these plans are contingent on the city approving plans to raise property taxes to meet an expected shortfall of 516,000 to meet wage increases on payments on past borrowing.

You can check out the entire process from Tuesday night’s information session at City Hall, by reading the Daily News coverage reprinted below.

CITY HURDLES BUDGET WOES TO REPAIR TRACK
BY LEANNE RITCHIE
THE DAILY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2006
PAGES ONE AND THREE

If the city goes ahead with its proposed budget, it will have the money available this year to partner with the school board and fix the pitted surface of Charles Hays track.

Only a handful of people turned out to comment on the city’s proposal to raise an additional half a million dollars in revenue this year through taxation at a public meeting last night.

And half of those who spoke were encouraged that part of the increase the city has planned will allow them to fix the popular athletic facility.

Brian Johnson, track coach and school board member, said the issue of the holes in the Charles Hays track facility affects many people in the community, not just the track team of 35 high school athletes.

“Everybody uses that field, everybody will benefit in the long run (from fixing it)” he said.

He noted the school board has put aside $180,000 for repairs. The city has budgeted $155,000.

“It’s extremely difficult for the athletes to excel and show how well they can do at other tracks when they can’t even practice on their own.” He said.

“It’s extremely frustrating as a coach watching these kids have to dodge potholes.

Kevin Leach, another local track coach said he would like coaches to have input on the repairs, in order to improve the design and prevent a similar situation from occurring.

The current surface of the facility is water permeable – water trickles through the track surface to the asphalt and causes the rubber to bubble upwards.

City staff said they could release the funds for the project once the budget passes.

Staff are proposing to raise an additional $516,000 in order to meet contractual wage increases with their employees and make the first payment on the $7 million it borrowed for the cruise ship dock and museum building purchase.

Staff provided a list of all the line items the city would like to complete in 2006 however they would cost 1.8 million. Given that local taxpayers would likely not be able to stomach such an increase, staff pared that down to $516,000 which will cover the cost of repairing the track, the works yard roof, RCMP cells and fire hall roof.

How the increase will affect individual businesses and homeowners will depend on how their property assessment changed last year. The average property owners saw a 24 per cent increase. Those who saw larger increases in their assessments will see larger tax increases while those who didn’t see any increase could actually see a reduction in taxes.

Meanwhile, the city has included in its budget that it will receive its annual $2 million from the city-owned telecommunications corporation, City West.

And city staff are looking for ways to reduce the amount of money coming from the city to cover the operation of the airport ferry.

Last year, taxpayers subsidized the ferry to the tune of $700,000.

“The main difficulty with that ferry is that the revenue is totally dependent on the number of passengers,” said Gord Howie, city administrator.

“If that airport was carrying the same number of passengers it was in its heyday, the airport ferry would actually be making money.”

He said the city is looking at trimming costs or increasing revenue without increasing it to the point where it is detrimental to the passengers.

Of concern to others who spoke about the budget was the city’s failing infrastructure.

“We must be serious in our desire to make things better for the future.” Said Calvin Thompson.

With respect to all taxpayers, the time has come to be forthright at the table with a clear understanding that we must pay the appropriate amounts in taxation increases and user fees to maintain and yes improve our city.”

Staff responded by noting that for the first time this year, they have begun to rebuild those reserves that were spent during the time the city wasn’t receiving its Skeena taxes.

This year, they will put $250,000 back into the reserves.

City Council will meet next Monday to discuss the results of the public hearing. The budget must be presented to the province by May 15.