4 - Friday, March 4, 1988 - North Shore News

EXPENDITURES CRITICIZED
iatepayers scrutinize

Peay

WHILE SOMEWHAT overwhelmed by getting a look, this
year, at the raw, unpruned municipal budget, West Van-
couver ratepayers had plenty to say about some of the ex-
penditures proposed when they met with district council

Wednesday evening.

As it stands, the 1988 proposed
budget, which calls for an 8.8 per
cent increase in taxes, will be pared
down to the inflation level at about
four per cent.

But in order to allow the
tatepayers greater input than in
past years, West Vancouver Coun-
cil agreed to last year’s requests to
allow the group access to the
budget before it is refined.

The ratepayers were critical of
some of the items proposed in the
budget, but there were also calls
for greater expenditures in some
areas. .

Disappointed in the rate at
which West Vancouver is repairing
its roads, Rob Inman of the British
Properties asked for a referendum
to pay for a more ambitious
schedule for the entire municipali-
ty.

At the present rate, individual
roads in the district will be
repaired every 75 years, although
they’re only supposed to be good
for 22 to 25 years, he said.

The budget allows $1,280,000
for road work this year.

“It’s: just not enough ... Roads
are falling apart everywhere,” In-
man said.

Municipal Manager Terry

Lester agreed that repairing a road .
every 75 ycars was not good ‘

enough. i

“*But in our citizens survey, 78
per cent said the roads in their area
were very good,"’ Lester poitited

By MAUREEN CURTIS
Contributing Briter

Inman also called for more
tree-topping and cutting, 2 major
British Properties concern.

Local land surveyor (and presi-
dent of the B.C. Land Surveyors)
Bill Chapman urged council not to
throw an integrated Jand survey
out of the budget, as they have
done in the past.

“West Vancouver has a strong
engineering department and
good equipment .., but they don't
have a good base,’' said Chapman.

As a result, the municipality has
been “rubber mapping’’ with in-
accurate details of the district
available. Chapman said that the
$175,000 it would cost to survey
West Vancouver properly would
soon pay for itself.

West Vancouver is one of 36
B.C. municipalities that has not
yet done an integrated survey.

Chamber cf Commerce presi-
dent Bill Soproavich started his cri-
tique’ of the proposed budget by
urging the municipality to dif-
ferentiate between | ‘needs’ and
‘wants.’

Soprovich said West Vancouver

“is not following its stated policy of

creating a ‘user pay’ funding
method for recreational facilities.

“Increases in user fees are not
evident to offset increases in
costs,’’ Soprovich said.

“You have the opportunity to
get people to pay more and help
the rest of the taxpayers,” said
former alderman Donald Griffiths
of the Chamber.

Recreation director
Kurucz pointed out that

Frank
West

.. Van budget

Vancouver at 64 per cent has the
second highest recovery of recre-
ational costs through user-pay in
all of Canada.

“The facilities are well used ...
and the survey indicates the pcople
are happy with the services and
fees ... I think we are charging the
fees which the community is will-
ing to pay,’’ Kurucz added.

Soprovich said that implications
of continuing subsidies of seniors
programs should be considered,
including the possibility of creating
a ‘seniors’ ghetto’.

But Kurucz said the targeted re-
covery rate of 35 per cent for
seniors facilitics had been exceeded
last year to about 47 per cent re-
covery.

When expenditures at Glencagics
Golf Course were questioned, it
was pointed out that the facility
not only recovers costs but creates
substantial profits which create net
returns to the municipality.

Also questioned was the increas-
ing municipal practice of leasing,
rather than buying, vehicles. Fi-
nance director George Horwood
explained that the municipality
might pay $125,000 over five years
for a $100,000 vehicle, but would
then be able to purchase the vehi-
cle for 10 per cent of its cost.

“This tends to level the taxes
quite significantly,"' Horwood
said.

Capt. George Murrell of the
Ambleside-Dundarave Ratepayers
Assoc. suggested that a lot of
money was going into focal im-
provement projects, Many of these
are lane pavings, and Lester
pointed out that the municipality
pays only 30 per cent of the cost of
these, with the immediate residents
picking up the rest.

Reducing municipal respon-
sibilities in other ways was another

See Roducing
Page 5

The |
next time
you think of
parking

here,

YOUR COMMUNITY
NEWSPAPER
SINCE 1969

Norgate developments clarified

A STORY run in the News Sunday,
Feb. 28 incorrectly tinked a pro-
posal by Greg Cragg, on behalf of
15 of the 2) property owners in the
Norgate arca to develop apartment
units north of 15th Street between
Tatlow Avenue and MacGowan
Avenue, with a separate Capilano
Lions Housing Society (CLHS)

project.

The CLHS project, a 64-unit
subsidized seniors housing
development, has already been
issued a development permit and
will be constructed on the
southwest corner of Bridgman
Avenue and 16th Street.

WILLIAM F. SPOHN
Barrister and Solicitor
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in association with

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