107th Year - Week 2 PM 40007014
Money raised to date:
$231,120 GOAL
$400,000
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Smithers/Interior News
Steelheads win two weekend games.
SPORTS/A6
LOOKING BACK A snapshot of the Hazeltons in our 2013 Year in Review.
THREE RIVERS/B1
INSIDE LETTERS A5 SPORTS A6 COMMUNITY A9 A&E A11 THREE RIVERS B1 CLASSIFIEDS B3
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Property assessments going up By Ryan Jensen
PLAYOFF PUSH
www.interior-news.com
District of New Hazelton residents may be shocked when they open their 2014 property assessment notices and see a 22.73 per cent increase over last year. According to BC Assessment, the average value of a home in New Hazelton rose to $108,000 from $88,000 in 2013. Wendy Hunt, District of New Hazleton chief administrative officer, said she didn’t expect property taxes to make a similar increase. “It’s very early but I think it’s safe to say there will be some increases, but they won’t be very significant,” Hunt said. “We will adjust our mill rate to offset [the increased assessments].” Christopher Whyte, BC Assessment deputy assessor, north region, said they review and analyze all sales that take place within the year to determine the property value. “As a result, the sales that took place in New Hazelton in 2013 indicated that the market was willing to pay more for property in that location,” Whyte said. “I am unable to speculate as to what the
influence was behind this increase as there can be multiple reasons behind the purchase prices of property. The one common trend that is present across the majority of the north half of the province is that the natural resource sector is continuing to prosper, which will create certain economic outcomes” Peter Lund, Re/ Max Bulkley Valley managing broker, said he sees no reason for the significant jump in property assessments in New Hazelton. “There’s no justification regarding industry or new jobs to support that increase,” Lund said. “If they’re correcting an already down market that’s one thing but to me, [the property assessment] is too high.” In Telkwa and Smithers, the average value of a single-family home rose nine and 2.23 per cent, respectively. These prices are a lot closer to what properties are actually selling for, Lund said. “Those numbers are a lot more accurate,” he said. The biggest assessment in the northwest region was in Kitimat, where properties increased in value by 26.67 per cent, from an average home price of $180,000 to $228,000.
TOMAHAWKS CHOPPED Steelheads’ captain Darryl Young streaks in on the Lac La Hache net during CIHL action at the Smithers Civic Centre Saturday night. Young led the team to two victories on the weekend, against the Tomahawks and Williams Lake Stampeders. For the full story, see page A6. Nolan Kelly photo
NEWPRO closed indefinitely Poor market conditions cited as reason
By Ryan Jensen Smithers/Interior News
More than 40 Smithers employees of Northern Engineered Wood Products are looking for work today after being informed Friday of the plant’s indefinite closure. The shutdown is effective immediately. The closure is due to poor market conditions, said
NEWPRO president Darren Jacobs. “It’s been a long time of very poor market conditions,” Jacobs said. “We’re shutting down until the market improves a lot. “It’s been a market that has been stale for quite a few years. It could improve in two months or two years. We just don’t know. We’re obviously hoping for
sooner rather than later.” NEWPRO has been working on finding new markets for years, Jacobs said, but they have found no success in that regard. “Overseas markets are terrible and we just finally had to make the decision that markets have to improve for us to continue,” he said. A few people are working this week,
Friday Only! see page A-12
Treetop Fruit Snack Bowls 36 x 113 gram
but most of the 43 employees are now out of work. “We have some fibre we are still moving but besides that, everyone is done,” Jacobs said. “It’s tough. I feel for the employees, it’s been a longtime running mill.” NEWPRO manufactures a variety of grades and sizes of particleboard and melamine decor products.
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