Halt to district tax hike sought

By Jennifer Smith - Vernon Morning Star - January 27, 2008

A plea is being made for the District of Coldstream to slow down the race to increase resident’s taxes. Final adoption of the 2008 budget is scheduled for Monday’s council meeting. But before residents are stuck with a 9.17 per cent tax hike, the Coldstream Ratepayers’ Association is requesting a delay of adoption. “This is going to result in people being taxed out of their homes,” said CRA president Andy Danyliu. “There’s absolutely no reason for Coldstream to gallop unless they’re trying to hide something that they know is not acceptable.” Adoption of the budget is not necessary until the May 15 deadline. Therefore with no urgency to adopt the budget, the CRA is requesting a time extension until after its town hall meeting March 3.

The District of Coldstream did hold a public meeting Jan. 7, but Danyliu fears too many people just accepted the budget without fighting for a lower tax increase. “What worries me is probably many people think there’s nothing they can do,” said Danyliu. “But we’re going to present some suggestions.” His suggestions include a forensic audit of financial management practices at the municipal hall by an outsider, as well as a management effectiveness audit. He says these are needed to look at how the district is using and allocating taxpayers funds and to determine the qualifications of staff. He feels that neither councillors or staff should be accepting such a tax increase, even if four per cent of the increase is for the new fire halls. He says other items should be scaled back to budget for the increase and to reduce the burden on the taxpayers. “When I served on council in Vancouver our rule was never raise taxes above the cost of living.”The CRA meeting will take place at the Women’s Institute Hall at 7 p.m. March 3.