The city of Vernon is joining members of CUPE in questioning why BC Assessment is amalgamating its Vernon and Penticton offices with Kelowna next year. CUPE rep Kevin McPhail told council Monday they want to see a business case showing where the suggested 440-thousand dollars in cost savings will come from. He also wonders why no effort has been made to find a smaller site in Vernon, adding the change will have an economic impact on Vernon. Mayor Wayne Lippert has concerns about the 13 Vernon workers who will relocated to Kelowna. "We need to look at the effect of people travelling back and forth to Kelowna, or whether they would move, and what their spouses are going to do, and moving family, as well as any inconvenience that could cause for the citizens of Vernon." Lippert says some residents would have to drive to Kelowna in the middle of winter should they need to visit the Assessment office.
Councillor Bob Spiers led a motion to support the union. He says there doesn't seem to be a strong business reason for the change. "Until we can see why they've done it, it's probably another form of downloading because our costs in the city are going to go up because we're going to have go to Kelowna to get some of our answers." The union is also asking Community Minister Bill Bennett to reconsider the closures. BC Assessment claims most of its customers use the phone or Internet to make inquiries.
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