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Drawing the line gi
City council joins fight
against g gaming expansion

The Voice of North and West Vancouver since 1869

for light

Anna Marie D'Angelo

News Reporter
dangelo@nsnews.com

PETITIONS are
being circulated at
Cleveland elemen-
tary and the sur-
rounding neigh-
borhood after a
nine-year-old stu-
dent was hit by a
car on March 12.

The petitions ask that
North Vancouver District
install a pedestrian-activated
red urattic light at the inter-
section of Capilano and
Eldon roads.

The intersection has a
pedestrian-activated yellow
flashing light. The intersee-
tion is located one block
north of the fish hatchery
entrance, about a block away
from Cleveland elementary.

See Crossing page 3

Martin Millerchip

News Reporter
srartin®nsnews.com

“IT’S not a good news budget Pll admit.”

With those words Coun, Janice Harris introduced a 1999
North Vancouver District budget of $67 million that has fed toa
war of words between the district and the Province over provin-
cial downloading.

The bad news tor district homeowners is 25.4% tay hike that
will add $67 to the average home’s tax bill -- a jump of 86% over
what was expected.

The district's provisional budget, adopted by council Dec. 24,
1998, called for a 2. O% tax increase.

The jump to a 5.4% tax increase comes asia direct result of

provincial downloading.

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Provincial downloading dispute
follows anncunced 5.4% tax
hike in North Vancouver District

Late in December, the provincial government announced cuts
to municipal grants throughout BC. “Vhe district took one of the
ho riest hits: almost $1.5 million,

Hf the district had passed on the downloading to its raxpayers
directly, taxes would have increased to 6.27%. Bat a projected
$998 operating surplus and other adjustments held the increase
to 5.4%,

The latest round of downloading came on top of 1997 cuts by
the province that were abo proportionately more than many

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This Week 114

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NEWS photo Mike Wakelield

CLEVELAND elementary Grade 1 student Michael Drummond presses the button to cross Capilano Road at Eldon as another vehicle
zooms by. Barbara D. Foreman, 80, (background), saw another student struck by a car in the crosswalk on March 12.

St

x re

other municipalities: S18 million, or 3% of the municipal budget.

The district also dost S800, O00 in tax assessments from BC
Rai that vear as the province unilaterally capped what the Crown
corporanor should pay.

Mavor Don Bell labelled the hit on the municipalities “a cal-
culated move” intended to provoke “the least squealing, the least
public objection.”

Bell pointed out that the second round of cuts were
announced on a Friday just betore Christmas (a move guaranteed
to result in the least media attention).

“Eowas caleniated predetermination to quietly reduce local ser-
vices to compensate for the overruns atthe provincial level.
Hoineawners are now sharing the provincial debt and that is not
an Appropriate form of taxagon,”

See Mayor page 4 *

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