Vernon-based forestry company Tolko isn’t saying one way or the other if Kelowna is in the running for a $35-million wood-processing plant to make I-joists.“We’re looking at various locations in B.C. and Alberta,” Tolko communications manager Sheila Catlin said. “We’ll probably know in three to four weeks.”Pressed further and asked if Kelowna is among the locations being considered, Catlin said she would leave it at “various locations in B.C. and Alberta are being considered.”Tolko already has a big stud lumber and plywood plant on Kelowna’s North End waterfront, which employs 700.It’s unclear if there’s enough space there to accommodate an I-joist plant that would put out 90 million lineal feet a year using two shifts a day.The plan is to have the plant in production sometime next year.Such a plant would boost Kelowna’s industrial and tax base and provide employment.However, there are already concerns about the existing plant and the smoke and noise it emits, with its proximity to downtown and residential neighbourhoods.Privately owned Tolko is the Okanagan’s largest company and employer with an estimated $1.7 billion in sales annually and 5,500 workers at 18 mills across Western Canada.
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DON QUIXOTE NOTE: I wonder what role the Heavy Industrial Municipal Property Tax Rates will play in their decision on location. With Alberta's rates being much lower than B.C. rates and the extreme diversity of rates in B.C. look for a low tax rate location to be chosen, ( all other factors being equal.)
For example:A 35 million dollar plant in Coldstream would be charged $1,047,930 annually at the 2005 Heavy Ind. rate of 29.94088. The same plant in Trail would be charged $653,842 at their 2005 rate of 18.68120 and only $470,722 in Logan Lake. (AND REMEMBER THESE DO NOT INCLUDE REGIONAL OR SCHOOL TAXES WHICH ARE CAPPED AT SET RATIOS .) The taxes in Kelowna at their 2005 rate of 18.25900 would be $639,065 which contrasts with the 19.16004 rate and $670,601 charge in Lumby and the horrific charge of $1,196,874 at 34.19640 in Spallumcheen.
For example:A 35 million dollar plant in Coldstream would be charged $1,047,930 annually at the 2005 Heavy Ind. rate of 29.94088. The same plant in Trail would be charged $653,842 at their 2005 rate of 18.68120 and only $470,722 in Logan Lake. (AND REMEMBER THESE DO NOT INCLUDE REGIONAL OR SCHOOL TAXES WHICH ARE CAPPED AT SET RATIOS .) The taxes in Kelowna at their 2005 rate of 18.25900 would be $639,065 which contrasts with the 19.16004 rate and $670,601 charge in Lumby and the horrific charge of $1,196,874 at 34.19640 in Spallumcheen.
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