THURSDAY
S I N C E
JUNE 26, 2014
1 8 9 5
Vol. 119, Issue 99
105
$
INCLUDING G.S.T.
Teddy Bear Picnic at Gyro Park Page 2
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
City eyes Gas Tax Fund to help with bridge costs BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
A bump in taxes won’t be how the City of Trail pays for a new Columbia River crossing. Instead, if Trail residents give the city the go-ahead to borrow $4.9 million on the Aug. 23 by a popular vote, millions will be paid off through a federal grant program called the Gas Tax Fund (GTF). “At this time and if the referendum is approved, council’s plan is to use the annual gas tax payment to offset the cost of borrowing,” confirmed David Perehudoff, Trail’s chief administrative officer. “Thereby eliminating any direct property tax impacts as a result of the project.” The federal government collects about $5 billion per year in taxes on gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel and approximately $1.6 billion per year from GST revenues on gasoline and diesel. These taxes go into general (federal) coffers to fund a range of programs including the GTF. Designed in 2005, federal gas tax revenue provides provinces and territories twice-ayear funding to flow into municipalities to support local infrastructure projects. In 2013, the federal government announced an economic action plan that indexed the GTF at two per cent annually until 2024, beginning with a new provincial Community Works Funds (CWF) agreement effective this year. Since the program’s inception, Trail’s annual gas tax payment has increased from $115,000 to almost $342,000, and under the terms of a new agreement, will net the city $4.4 million in the next 10 years. Most recently, Trail used $2.64 million from the GTF to pay for the construction of the Coleman Street Reservoir and currently retains about $350,000 in the city’s gas tax account. “If the referendum fails, other eligible projects will be considered in the future as part of the city’s capital plan,” Perehudoff noted. For the first nine years, the federal See COMMUNITY, Page 3
LIZ BEVAN PHOTO
Gigi and Lodi Forte of the Festa Italiana Committee hang a banner in preparation for this weekend's 'Family Day at Piazza Colombo.” The event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the piazza on Saturday and will feature live music and entertainment with all the Italian food you can imagine including homemade pizzas, pasta and meatballs and some gelato for those with a sweet tooth.
Festa a celebration for all cultures BY LIZ BEVAN
“The Italian culture has played a very important role, along with other cultures of course, in the history of Trail and it’s always nice for people to get together and celebrate the culture they were brought up with”
Times Staff
Festa Italiana is inviting Trail residents to the Piazza Colombo on Saturday to celebrate family and “all things Italian.” Gord Gattafoni of the Festa Italiana group says everyone is welcome and this year, the family day will be celebrating Italian culture, with a few other cultures thrown in the mix. “We are going to have the Kootenay Dance Works, a jazz dance company, a pipe band with some dancers, the Katie Shaw Dancers, and some local ladies Kathy Manna and Neveah White, who is about seven years old and has a voice like a bird,” he said. “This is a multicultural thing going on here.” The annual gathering was rebooted last year after a six-year break starting in 2006 and is running off the success of last year's "Una Giornata Alfresco," or "A Day Outdoors." Gattafoni says he got some great feedback after last year's event and hopes this year will be just as
GORD GATTAFONI
successful. “Last year, we had a great time with the Festa and we were very pleased with the turnout and the comments that were made afterwards,” he said. “We decided that it was time to resurrect it on a smaller scale and everyone can have fun with us.” Although the Festa is about Italian culture, organizers say it is important to recognize the cultures that made Trail
what it is today. “The Italian culture has played a very important role, along with other cultures of course, in the history of Trail and it's always nice for people to get together and celebrate the culture they were brought up with,” said Gattafoni. “We welcome everyone in the city to come and participate in our Festa and we just hope the sun is shining and we have a good time.” The entertainment may be multicultural, but the food is going to be straight from the boot-shaped country. Cooking will start on Friday in anticipation of Saturday's event. “There is going to be pasta, meatballs, gelato and Italian baking,” said Gattafoni. “We are going be cooking pizzas on Friday and the meatballs too.” The family day is sponsored by the Festa Italiana Committee with help from Trail Communities in Bloom and starts at 11 a.m. at the Piazza Colombo on Rossland Avenue in Trail. Events will come to a close around 3 p.m.
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