GOOD KARMA | Christmas spirit pays dividends for woman who gave up bear to upset child [A4]
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Sunday, December 20, 2015
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Grade 1 students Brooklynn Herrington and Tarah McKenzie work together as they make a giant snowball during the last day of school before Christmas Friday at Silver Star School.
A study refutes the perception that downtown Vernon is overwhelmed by vacant storefronts. A survey conducted by the City of Vernon and the Downtown Vernon Association shows a vacancy rate of 7.9 per cent for street-level units in the central core Nov. 2 to 6. “It’s a good snapshot,” said Kevin Poole, the city’s economic development manager. “Council had a goal in its strategic plan of a vacancy rate of 10 per cent or less downtown. Overall, I don’t think it’s too bad at all.” The survey shows a six per cent vacancy rate on 30th Avenue and 13.1 per cent for those streets immediately off of 30th Avenue. For the rest of downtown, the vacancy rate is 7.9 per cent. The report also highlights commercial vacancies more
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Enrolment may be up but the Vernon School District is still looking at a budget shortfall for the next school year. Secretary-treasurer Sterling Olson said it’s still early in the budget process, but the bottom line is that the district is looking at a shortfall of around $800,000 over two years. “That’s quite simply two issues that drive that,” he said. “One is government reducing funding and requiring boards to offset that with reductions to what they call noninstructional programs and services, which is around $400,000.” The other issue is that while the Ministry of Education is providing funds to cover the negotiated unionized collective agreement Sterling Olson provision, they’re not putting any money in for other cost pressures, such as utility increases, MSP premium increases or anything for principals and vice-principals and other exempt staff. “So really, between the ministry reducing funding and some of those cost pressures not being funded, at this point in time the board will need to find ways to balance the budget,” said Olson. “We’ve got a number of months, so over those number of months we’ll be pulling together options and strategies for the board to achieve a balanced budget.” The board is required to approve an annual budget on or before June 30, 2016 for the 2016/17 school year. The adoption of the 2015/16 amended annual budget is scheduled for Feb. 24, 2016. At this point, Olson said no surplus is anticipated from the current school year to support the 2016/17 budget. The combination of $1,354,000 in projected cost pressures along with a projected revenue increase of $549,260 results in a projected budget shortfall of $804,740 for the 2016/17 school year. The board will be establishing other opportunities for the DPAC, First Nations representatives, and union representatives to discuss the budget development with the board. Other public input methods to the board will also be provided. “We need to find different ways to make sure that we’re getting stakeholder input into the process,” said Olson. “Not included of course is a lot of the work we do behind the scenes with district management, including principals and vice principals, to help provide information and recommendations back to the board but I think it’s important that some of the VTA, CUPE and DPAC have an ability to actually speak directly to the board.”
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than 5,000-square-feet in size. They include the former Liquidation World, the old legion building and the former Canadian Mental Health building. “They aren’t easy sites to resolve, especially with such large square footage,” said Poole. “Prospective businesses also look at parking.” But while some challenges exist with large properties, Poole believes there are opportunities for new tenants overall downtown. “We have to make people aware of what is available.” Among the initiatives being launched by the city is an online portal with maps. “The map will highlight capital projects, new and proposed developments, along with vacant commercial space and redevelopment opportunities in the downtown,” said Poole.
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Study reveals vacancy ‘snapshot’ RICHARD ROLKE
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District faces major shortfall
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