The group dedicated to defeating a plan to borrow $20 million to build the library/civic complex is confident victory is within their reach. Tony Stamboulieh of the Vernon and District Taxpayers Association won’t reveal exactly how many signatures the group has collected, but he’s adamant there are autographs enough to block city council’s loan plan. With the deadline to collect 2,777 signatures still two weeks away, it’s too early to declare the result. But the city may want to stop running promotional ads and start thinking about what to do if their alternate approval gambit fails.
Options include short-term borrowing of small amounts of money and selling off some surplus city land. Another option is to scale back the project, which now totals $29 million. As it stands now, Vernon could change its moniker to the City of Loans. Local taxpayers are already paying off two cultural buildings in the $14 million Multiplex and $9 million Performing Arts Centre, both of which are regional district loans. Add to that is the $7.5 million in loans approved for parkland and the $35 million authorized to fund the Master Water Plan, both of which come through Greater Vernon Services. Add that with up to $29 million in city sewer debt and local government has accrued nearly $100 million in loans. A loan for the new library/civic complex would push borrowing totals into nine figures.
Tax-weary landowners deserve a break from all the loan repayment. Instead the city is proposing to add more dollars to the burden. It’s difficult to dispute the need for a new library and the art gallery could certainly use a home. However, the civic project appears to be as much an expansion of city hall and the RCMP detachment, as it does a cultural centre. City council is hopeful to use the remaining space for the police and city staff. But does Vernon really need more office space? Perhaps, but the add-ons appear to be little more than hastily conceived improvements tacked on to the library with little justification.
City council might have had more success through a referendum process where they were able to take the time to educate residents on the expensive project. Instead council tried to force the issue through an alternate approval process where only a handful of voters will make their
opinion known through a petition. Voters who favour the borrowing scheme will have no say at all. The city’s loan bid may ultimately survive the alternate approval process, but council needs to be prepared if it doesn’t. Should it fail, council will only have themselves to blame.
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