Wednesday November 20, 2013 www.saobserver.net $1.25 GST INcluded
All jazzed up Members of the Shuffle Demons, led by Juno Award winner and former Salmon Arm Secondary student Richard Underhill, make their way through the audience while performing for students and staff Friday afternoon in the school gym. The band also played a soldout show Friday evening at the Gleneden Hall to benefit the Shuswap Environmental Action Society.
JAMes MurrAy/OBSeRVeR
Municipal taxes nudge higher City budget: General tax levy up 1.38 per cent plus a two per cent rise for water and sewer. By Martha Wickett OBSeRVeR STAFF
city council whittled, pared and trimmed Monday, ending the day with a 1.38 per cent tax increase for Salmon Arm taxpayers. Budget day began in its usual way, with city staff having trimmed their departmental budgets as much as possible, providing council with a potential 2.33 per cent tax increase for 2014. Following council’s paring, the 1.38 per cent increase translates into a residential tax increase of $6.22 per $100,000 of assessment
(an $18.66 increase for a $300,000 home, for instance) and a business tax increase of $15.35 per $100,000 of assessment. Along with the budget increase comes a two per cent increase in water and sewer user fees. unchanged, but still a cost for taxpayers, is the user fee levy for solid waste and recycling, which will remain at its 2013 rate of $135. Big-ticket items for 2014 include $1.8 million to replace the sanitary sewer main along the foreshore, which experienced a break in 2012; $500,000 for Blackburn Park improvements including
a championship city’s chief financial soccer field, a officer, a step which lifeTrail system, would require a public a picnic area and approval process. improved landscaping Also in the and irrigation; budget is design and and $800,000 for construction of the development of the Syme Bridge on 70th new cemetery at the Avenue SW that spans corner of 20th Avenue the Salmon River Nancy Cooper and 30th Street Se, at an estimated cost Mayor of including surveying of $430,000, threeSalMon arM and getting gravel quarters of which has roads and turf in place already been saved in so it will be ready for use in 2015. reserves. These three items were Some other items include: a recommended for long-term $1,500 contribution for installation borrowing by Monica dalziel, the of pedestrian countdown timers at
This week The CSRD approves development of $6.4 million headquarters. See news on A16. The ’Backs notched five out of a possible six points on the weekend. See a recap on A20.
downtown intersections; $9,000 for participation in the Bc One call system, which alerts excavators to buried cables and pipelines; $20,000 to assess properties under upcoming contaminated sites legislation; $300,000 to replace a 1989 pumper truck at the canoe fire hall; $18,000 for an increase in remuneration for voluntary oncall staff at the fire department; a $100,000 increase to the police department, mainly for two new police vehicles, and new closedcircuit video equipment. A request from community See Council on page A2
Index Opinion ....................... A6 View Point .................. A7 Life & Times ............... A8 Sports................A15-A18 Arts & Events ... A19-A21 Time Out................... A22 Vol. 106, No. 47, 48 pages