The hearing that was scheduled for Monday, December 18th for an injunction against the City by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) had been rescheduled to Thursday, December 28th due to scheduling issues with the judiciary. Once proceedings are complete, the CSRD will be announcing the results.
Tuesday, December 12th, Council adopted the proposed fire protection plan the City has put forward to the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) with the hopes that the CSRD would accept the terms and the plan could be put into place without a special meeting for approval.
This matter has been going on for some time now, dating back to 2013. However, many of the residents in the Area B who are on the hook for these additional costs, already feel like they have been paying, and it is up to the City of Revelstoke to pony up.
One Area B resident who will remain nameless showed the Revelstoke Current their personal property taxes and what each breakdown was. On a separate line there was fire protection/recreation with the amount owed across the page.
“I have been paying this for years. With the increase in value of land, the price of this will surely go up, yet no better services have been put into place. S how me in the last 10 years what better services have been put into place for our area? Nothing. Yet, we all pay this fire protection/ recreation fee. Where does that money go? Why is it (The yearly amount) not separated and used to grow infrastructure that they seem to need? If you add up how much they have taken over 10 years from everybody, it is a lot of money that they could have utilized.”
Those living in the CSRD/ Area B are subject to a recreation fee as well. Those living close to the city are charged for the use of the facility whether they use it or not due to proximity.
“I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t use it enough to justify that amount, but I see its value. I could use it if I wish too. However, it is not exactly in walking distance like it is for those living in the town core.” This frustrated Area B resident stated.
When asked how much this would affect the yearly budget he claimed that it would most likely triple his amount if he has zero protection.
The Area B residents will now have to wait another 10 days to find out if they are protected after the 31st of December.
