BY ERIC ALLEN
Special to the News
The City of Prince George has initiated an “Alternative Approval Process” (AAP) to get citizen input regarding its plan to borrow $22,150,000 million dollars for renovations to the City pools.
When Municipalities want to borrow an amount exceeding $5 Million dollars they have two choices:
- Hold a referendum and, if they get a majority of the eligible voters, they can borrow the money and proceed with the project, or
- They can go to the Alternative Approval Process which requires 10% (or more) of eligible voters to complete and return a form (available at City Hall or online). If 10% (or more) indicate that they do not wish the project/borrowing to proceed, the project will not go ahead.
It seems that the City often goes to an AAP if it feels there is a good chance it could lose a referendum on a particular funding proposal. The excuse it usually uses for not going to a referendum is that it would save us $70,000 dollars, which is their estimated cost for holding a referendum. City officials say that most of the work on a AAP would be done by the present salaried staff during normal working hours. Initially this looks like a huge savings. However, when compared to the roughly $780,000 the City paid for a toilet at the ballfield at Carrie Jane Park I can’t help but believe that they are blowing smoke. Paying $70,000 for a referendum to give taxpayers a say in how their money is spent is a good, clean,demonstration of how our democracy works (or should work).
The City goes to an AAP because they have a much better chance of winning. Why? Because an AAP requires that we get 10% of the eligible voters to stop them from borrowing the money, i.e. 5,512 signed petitions. Anyone who does not sign the petition is considered (under legislation) to be in favour of the borrowing. This of course is hogwash, however that’s the rule at this time.
If citizens are able to get the 5,512 votes and stop the borrowing through the AAP this does not kill the project. Instead, it forces the City to go to a referendum and gives every eligible voter in Prince George the right to vote for or against the borrowing, in other words a much more Democratic way of allowing us to be involved in the spending of our tax dollars, and the tax increases which accompany any borrowing.
If approved, the $22,150,000 will be added to the original $16,000,000 already set aside which will bring the total cost of the renovation to $38,000,000 dollars. This does not include the substantial interest costs of the funding over the next several decades.
The form itself has all the information on it that people need to make a decision. People who are eligible to fill out the AAP petition have to meet the following criteria:
1. Be a Canadian Citizen:
2. Be a least 18 years old
3. Have lived in BC for at least the last six months.
4. Live within the City of Prince George BC.
Note: You don’t have to be a property owner
Petitions can be picked up or filled in at City Hall, during staff regular working hours. Because of the time constraints, these forms must be filled in and returned to the City by 5 p.m. Friday August 9, so time is of the essence.
We have made the following arrangements to allow you to pick up petitions on a daily basis at 1299 Third Avenue (Ron’s Hole in the Wall) from Saturday Aug 2 until Friday August 9. There will be as many petitions available as you may want, and I urge you to take as many as you can and sign up your spouses, children and others in your household, and as many of your neighbors as you can.
Return the signed petitions to 1299 3rd Ave (Ron’s Hole in the Wall) and we will ensure that they are all returned to City Hall before the cut-off date. This a great opportunity for us to send a message to City Council that we are tired of tax increases and we expect them to get more involved in looking after our interests.
Any questions should be directed to Ron at 250 562 2347 and he will ensure that if he cannot answer the question he will get someone who can.
I would urge all of you to sign up as many petitions as possible to ensure we slow down this tax increase madness.
You can fill out these forms for those who may have trouble writing, and just have them sign the form. Anyone who has filed a tax return will be on the Prince George eligible voters list.
Read all about the AAP on the BC Community Charter website if you wish more information.
Good luck and we will meet again at City Hall when City officials announce the results of this petition.