*

Dear Editor:

I. am compelled
_ comment: On:
: issue. currently’:festering at
N.V~ City’ Hall, namely the
- tenant housing crisis. .

I .attended:. a council
- meeting a couple of weeks
‘_ago'to hear the:
of the North: Shore Tenants
> Association , regarding’ their

to

“ members trials witha lan- |
" dlord and the request ‘for

‘AB Wednesday, Oct, 7, 1981 - North Shore News -

the dominant

-presentations .

is no |

seed funding for a tenant
housing registry and ad-
vocate society.

After witnessing the

proceedings and through.

later discussions with some
of the tenants in attendance,
F-observed two distinct facts

“emerge, sone.a consequence

‘of. the - crisis, the other a

contributing cause?
First, the tenant housing
crisis - is. widespread — it

change. Those: fal

carry their
_ assessments, ‘plus 2 percent a
" -year, indefinitely.”

Rudy Nothenberg, San
Francisco's executive deputy
mayor summed it up when
he said, “Business is the real
beneficiary of 13. There will
--be a very substantial switch
in the next 10 to 15 years,
with the property tax falling
massively. on the
homeowners’ side, and this
will affect rents too. As for
business, their-propery taxes
have been cut in half and
stabilized virtually forever.”

. And what did business do
with its landfall $2 billion in
tax savings a year? The Wall
Street Journal, Feb., 1979,
asked 43 of the largest
companies in California how
much they had saved and
what they intended to do
with the money. About one-
third wouldn't answer the

_ first question even though
their property tax bills are
listed on public records.
Standard Oil Co. had a
reduction of $43 million but
was not prepared to say what
they would do with it. Wells
Fargo & Co. saved $1.2
million the first year and
donated it to television,
housing and the United Way,
but the following year they
said that had been a “one-
time grant. It will not be an
‘ongoing program. We have
geared ourselves,to include
the savings in our banking
operations.”

DISCREDITED PLAN

Although a number
landlord associations had
promised to pass their
savings along to renters,
California tenants have been
hit with huge rent increases.
As a result, a number of
cities including Los Angeles
and San Francisco, have
instituted some form of rent
control or rent freeze.

If homeowners onthe
North Shore are concerned
about rising property taxes,
instead of wasting threc
dollars to hear about a

discredited proposal, take a
look atthe realreasons: . .

1 - Total provincial grants
for school purposes in B.C.
fell from .78 percent in 1973
of total net education costs
to 58 percent in 1980, and
less than that this year.
Worse than that, the
Vancouver region was hit
even harder because house
prices jumped higher than in
other areas. The local school
board has to charge a basic
mill rate as detemined by
Victoria, Even if they closed
every school you still have to
Pay it.

2 - Rate of taxation is to a
great extent determined in
Victoria as they decided on

‘the rules of the game in the

Assessment Act.
-3 - Reaganomics which

has resulted in high interest

rates, inflation and
stagnation for business.

4 - North Shore councils
chose the worst option for
taxation as far as the
homeowner is concerned.
Get them ‘to change to
Option A before November
10.

5 - Senior governments are
passing more and more
charges onto the propery tax
bill - cost of hospitals, the
Regional District, the
Assessment authority, the
Municipal Finance
Authority. A propery tax for
a home should be for direct

invoives not just those living
near Rufus Drive, but
residents of
located: throughout the city
and across the North Shore.
Secondly, the city, as I
have pointed out in the past,
has no housing policy
whatsoever. The newly-
formed ad hoc. Housing

Committee could not even |

fill an agenda until the
current. problems erupted.
My. question is .. . where is
Council’s active com-
‘mitment to achieve the
‘progressive objectives
outlined in the city’s own
Community Plan? .. to
encourage and provide a

- variety of housing types to a
mixture of income groups, to-

encourage that “low income
housing and family units be

fate 2 @ nn

buildings.

available in all sectors of the
City”.

What steps are the present
council members, many of-
whom endorsed the original
community plan, now
prepared to take to attempt
to solve an ever-worsening
housing crisis. for an in-
creasing mumber of city
residents?

. The City, I suggest, ought

‘to take stock of its land

inventory, use some
imagination and re-examine
the intended uses outlined in
the development plans, and
above all council ought to
demonstrate some
leadership and create a
coherent housing policy.

DanaM. Taylor

North Vancouver

Dear Editor:

There are many people
with their tin cups out. I
congratulate the Hon. Grace
McCarthy on her stand of
cutbacks to the welfare
payouts. We as taxpayers are.
the ones. that are suffering
numerous claims on our
purses. Any relief in this

constantly

Well done, Grace!

direction is very welcome.

Let’s support brave efforts
of this type instead of
abusing the
motivators. Well done,
Grace, carry on the good
work!

_ Mrs. Mae Ross

West Vancouvey

The difference
between you and.a
person who's fit

is that anything.

you can do

he can do better.

services to that home such as
sewers and roads. Senior
governments have access to
a much wider range of in-
come such as the resources
tax and they should finance
education, hospitals and so
on.

So, let’s deal with the
problems we have in a
realistic fashion, and not
expect that budget cutting
means lower taxes. You'll
pay more in the long run.

LOOKING FOR
QUALITY?
ee william meek
printing Itd.,

sate Gy

10 Oe@.

Eaxtabtished eo@
i444 @@

urkeys displayed in the mall.
Co eat closes.<, tturday

a0.

Mon.-Wed. 9:30 - 6:00; Thurs. & Fri. 9:30 - 9:00; Sat. 9:30 - 6:00

westly

“a nice place to shop”

nn mall

Lynn Valicy Rd. & Mountain Hwy., N.V

Call Nelson Yeomans!

Bill Docksteader’s

LEASING!

12th and Kingsway
879-8411