At a Special Meeting held Oct. 27, City Council adopted its 2011 Permissive Tax Exemption Bylaw, approving around $333,000 in relief to community groups.
So the council has a special meeting two days after the regular public meeting to approve a bylaw granting property tax exemptions, which legally must be approved in public. But is a notice of the meeting posted on the city web site along with other meeting notices? Not that I can find. Perhaps a piece of paper was posted on the notice board at city hall, to meet minimum legal requirements for public notice. The city sure is weak on communications, even about very basic things, like when the council will hold a meeting to make a decision ‘in public’.
BT, so true about the lack of communication. What I don’t understand is why the golf course and the rod and gun club was not called to justify their tax exemption? Watching council, and our Mayor asking how many people are in each group (the Moose Lodge and Legion). How is the membership at the other two? As for the rod & gun club, if they were on the mainland, as mentioned in the Quality of Life Official Community Plan, there could be a trail around the island. I do apologize as I am unsure the zoning of where the rod and gun club is, does anyone know?
Just some observations and thought perhaps someone knows something about those two organizations. The golf club not only gets over $20,000 tax exemption, nothing was mentioned about the over $70,000 grant they receive from the city also.
Prince Rupert is going to be nothing but a hole in the ground soon. Is it considered a village yet ?