Parks Function Dismantling Gaining Support - Coldstream Backs Regional Director

Betty Selin 12/23/2010 105.7 SUNFM

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Coldstream is supporting Area C in asking for, "an orderly dismantling of the parks function." Councillor Maria Besso says they went through an eleven month process with a mediator and changed their position along the way, but then everything fell apart at that joint meeting last month.  She says they need to work out what is Coldstream's fare share and it can't go ahead with Vernon having complete control. How do local communities budget, when an expensive department, like parks is still up in the air.  Councillor Besso says Coldstream's share is 1.3 million dollars, and that's without the performing arts centre and the Wesbild Centre  Besso says the only councillor not supporting the motion was Pat Cochrane.
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Don Quixote Note: The Coldstreamer has posted the Parks Requistion function data (Above Left- click to enlarge) for the period 1997-2010 for all 4 participants. He has posted "On a per capita basis Coldstream's contribution to the system is out of proportion percentage wise as compared to the other partners." What he is saying is that Coldstream's and the other 2 partners share on a per capita basis has increased when you compare 2010 per capita rates to those in 1997 while Vernon's has gone up much less. (127% increase for Coldstream as compared to 68% for Vernon.) 

The Parks Requisition actual $charged (taxed) each year is charged to all taxpayers on the basis of Improvements only. If it was charged on a per capita basis the actual numbers charged over this period would vary substantially from the actual requisition. To gauge the effect simply compare the yearly per capita of the individual participants to the yearly per capita of the whole function. (In 13 of 14 years Vernon was higher than the function average while in 14 out of 14 Coldstream was lower.) When one actually applies the $ that would be charged under a per capita formula then an actual difference is apparent.