Downtown tax plan stalled (KAMLOOPS)

By MARKUS ERMISCH Staff reporterSep 01 2006 http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/
Exemption bylaw will be discussed again at workshop. In a rare open disagreement between city council and city administrators, municipal politicians this week put the brakes on a tax-relief scheme the administration tried to rush through. "We try to get this thing through fairly quickly," said city CEO Randy Diehl about a revitalization tax- exemption bylaw the city is preparing. The bylaw aims to encourage more residential in-fill in the downtown and improve the commercial area by establishing tax breaks for new development and improvements to existing properties. However, council unanimously rejected a staff recommendation to adopt the criteria for the bylaw, preferring instead to further discuss them at a council workshop this month. "Obviously, we haven't nailed it down enough to go to a public hearing," said Coun. Tina Lange, noting that she prefers to further discuss the criteria, such as required parking space for new buildings and the value of building improvements for which the bylaw will apply. Mayor Terry Lake agreed. "There is some lack of clarity here," he said.Following the discussion, community planning supervisor John Popoff, author of the report council had just rejected, left council chambers seemingly upset. "Quite a bit," he said when asked how many hours he had spent preparing the report. Speaking after the meeting, Lake said the criticism of Popoff's report was not a reflection on the quality of his work. Lake blamed the summer holidays for the apparent miscommunication between council and administration. Tuesday's discussion follows a meeting in June, where the public was asked to provide input into the proposed tax-relief bylaw. That meeting already showed the bylaw is developing into one of the more complicated and contentious issues with which council will grapple this year. In June, Coun. Peter Milobar made the point that a tax-relief scheme would shift the tax burden because it would force the city to collect revenue elsewhere. By law, municipalities in British Columbia are not permitted to run deficits. Milobar reiterated these comments during Tuesday's council meeting.