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KELOWNA’S Samantha Richdale has two top10 finishes so far this season on the Symetra Golf Tour in the U.S.
WORKSHOP generates discussion on how better to protect vulnerable adults from abuse.
LETTER WRITER offers points on why you might want to vote either Liberal or NDP in this provincial election— and says it’s ultimately up to you to make an individual choice.
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▼ KELOWNA
Council pegs property tax hike at 2.74% Alistair Waters ASSISTANT EDITOR
Kelowna taxpayers will face an average property tax increase of 2.74 per cent this year. Kelowna city council finalized its 2013 budget Monday, and adopted the increase after city staff nailed down new construction revenue figures for 2012. Money from new construction is used each year by the city to offset the annual tax increase. In 2012, the value of new construction in the city fell by 14 per cent, to $328.7 million. The final budget increase is slightly higher than the 2.58 per cent hike council hammered out in January in the provisional budget during its day-long budget deliberations because $478,220 worth of new spending was added, including new projects such as $40,000 for five new left-turn signals on Highway 97, $37,000 for design work for a bridge over Mill Creek at Bullman Road, the same amount for a 240-metre waterfront retaining wall at Kinsmen Park, and a $7,000 contribution towards a practice batting cage for the local cricket club. The city will also spend $65,000 from reserves to plan a new Tourism Kelowna visitor information centre building in City Park. This year, the city will collect $103.7 million in property taxes, as well as $96.9 million for other taxing authorities, such as the regional district, the school district, the library board, regional hospital district and B.C. Assessment Authority. The city only has control, however, over the municipal property tax portion of residents’ annual property tax bills. Mayor Walter Gray said he was happy with this year’s budget, despite the fact it carried an average increase more than double the one per cent hike included in the 2012 municipal budget. “I’m certainly not apologizing to taxpayers for that,” he said, noting he believes residents of his city are getting value for money and appear happy with how the city is spending their money. He said since the provincial budget increase was announced a few months ago, he has had no negative feedback about the budget. See Council A4
WADE PATERSON/CAPITAL NEWS
DOWN AND DIRTY…Contestants make their way through the mud pit obstacle of Mudd, Sweat and Tears, which was held Saturday at the Lake Okanagan Resort on the Westside. The 10 km obstacle course featured the mud pit, lumberjack challenge and wall climb, along with several other hindrances.
▼ TOURISM
Okanagan marketing program launched Alistair Waters ASSISTANT EDITOR
The Thomson-Okanagan Tourism Association and four of the largest local tourist operations—Big White Ski Resort, Mission Hill Winery, Sparkling
Hill Resort and Predator Ridge golf resort—want travellers from around the world to put this area on their “bucket lists.” And to do so, they have teamed up with Kelowna’s airport to kick off a new campaign that TOTA executive director Glenn
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Mandziuk describes as “promoting the iconic.” The new program, an offshoot of TOTA’s strategy to get regional tourism players working together rather than in isolation, will start by featuring exclusive packages involving all four busi1
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ness that will only be available on a new website called OkanaganBucketList.com. The packages will include a ski performance camp featuring
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