VICTORIANEWS VICTORIA Going the extra mile
Lion-hearted
Rick Hansen brings his cross-country tour to town to honour some special people. Community, Page A7
A group of Westshore Rebels junior football players experience the B.C. Lions’ evaluation camp. Sports, Page A18
Friday, May 4, 2012
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City funds hazmat team, but no Victoria firefighters on specialized unit Unit would welcome members: CRD Erin McCracken News staff
The only full-time fire department in the region whose members have not joined the Capital Regional District’s hazardous materials response team may consider joining the specialty unit next year. “We are working towards it,” said Jeff Lambert, who took over as chief of the Victoria Fire Department last summer. “There are a lot of other things our department, like every other department, manage and wrestle with (to meet) the expectations of our citizens. To do everything for everybody is hard sometimes.” The region’s 13 municipalities and three electoral areas financially contribute to the CRD Hazmat Response Unit’s operating budget, which for 2012 is $290,000. This year Victoria taxpayers are chipping in $65,454. In 2011, they contributed $64,004. The team would welcome Don Denton/News staff Victoria firefighters, said TraA firefighter emerges from the vis Whiting, who oversees the Ritz Hotel on Fort Street during a hazmat service as the CRD’s hazardous materials incident on senior manager of protective Monday. See page A6 for more. services. At present, he is confident the unit is able to respond to incidents throughout the region. “I don’t think the program lacks for anything in regards to that,” Whiting said, noting that team members still work with Victoria firefighters. “Just like every municipality (in the region) we practise, we train in their municipalities, and we respond anywhere that the call comes within the region.” Before Lambert decides to supply firefighters to the unit, the potential cost implications of doing so must be considered, he said. If the department is operating with minimum staffing when a hazmat call comes in from another municipality, off-duty Victoria firefighters may need to be called in, the fire chief said. “We’d have to have benchmarks in there, a process that says if we’re below a certain staffing level we can’t send people off a shift.” PLEASE SEE: Budget affects fire decision, Page A6
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Martin Robbert, who lives near Glenlyon Norfolk School, leans on a fence on the edge of the school’s turf playing field. Robbert and other neighbours oppose the fact Glenlyon, an independent school, pays no property tax.
Tax break irks neighbours City will subsidize Glenlyon’s sports fields to the tune of $55,600 this year Roszan Holmen News staff
Bill Sudds has no issue with his neighbour, Glenlyon Norfolk School. He isn’t bothered by the school’s operations, half a block from his house on Somenos Street in the Gonzales neighbourhood. Nor does he object to its high fees or its independent school mandate. He just doesn’t want his property tax dollars subsidizing it.
“Why should I, and people like me, why should we subsidize the wealthy?” he asked. This year the City of Victoria will review its permissive tax exemption policy, which essentially covers not-for-profit organizations. The review seeks to establish eligibility criteria, and some people – Sudds included – hope Glenlyon gets removed from the list. As an independent school in B.C., Glenlyon charges tuition and and receives a per-student operating grant. The province also requires municipalities to waive property taxes on school buildings and the land they sit on. That statutory exemption will save Glenlyon approximately
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$128,390 in property taxes for 2012. Municipalities can also choose to waive property taxes on the rest of the school property. Victoria voluntarily exempts Glenlyon’s fields, a break worth an estimated $55,654 this year. The exemptions bother Sudds. “When I look at my property taxes … they’ve been rising quite substantially,” he said. Glenlyon earns revenue, and like every business and every household, it should pay tax, he said. Coun. Ben Isitt agrees. “Glenlyon clearly has the ability to pay the tax bill,” he said. PLEASE SEE: Glenlyon, Page A8
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