Residents of Harrop, Procter and Balfour have agreed that the taxation limit for their rural recreation services may be significantly increased, according to an Aug. 9 news release from the Regional District of Central Kootenay.
Currently the taxation limit for recreation is $1,000 per year, with the rest paid for by RDCK Area E community development grants.
This is not the proper purpose of those grants, the news release states. Other recreation services at the RDCK are funded through taxation.
The new bylaw will allow for annual taxation in the amount of the greater of $62,264 or $0.0757 per $1,000 of the assessed value of land and improvements.
The decision was made by the alternative approval process, which does not put the question to a general vote but invites anyone opposing the proposed new bylaw to send in a negative vote by a specific deadline. If 10 per cent of the electors object, the bylaw fails.
In this case, 34 negative votes were received by the Aug. 1 deadline, considerably fewer than 10 per cent of electors.
“Recreation Commission No. 10 has been active in some form or another since 1968, and has allowed the community to enjoy recreation programming and facilities” said Ramona Faust, RDCK director of Electoral Area E. “I’d like to thank the residents of the service area for letting us know, through this process, how much these programs are valued by the community.”
The bylaw change still requires approval by the RDCK board at its Aug. 18 meeting.