On Tuesday, take the time to remember. Volume 66, No. 45
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Trustee hopefuls find little to disagree about
$1.10 (includes GST)
BY LORNE ECKERSLEY Advance Staff
In the absence of current school board chair Rebecca Huscroft, the Oct. 30 School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) candidate forum was only a group hug and the singing of Kumbaya short of becoming a love-in. Former SD8 trustee Verna MayersMcKenzie and newcomers Cody Beebe and Ken Vaughan-Evans are vying with Huscroft for the South Rural zone’s two seats and they were seldom in disagreement as they fielded questions from the tiny crowd of two dozen sprinkled around Prince Charles Theatre. “Rebecca did confirm earlier that she had every intention of showing up,” forum organizer Al Gribbin, a Prince Charles Secondary School teacher, told the audience early in the proceedings. Earlier in the day, Huscroft told the Advance that she would not be attending. A forum organized by the Creston Valley Teachers’ Association and Canadian Union of Public Employees was “not representative of the voters of the Creston Valley,” she said. See TRUSTEE, page 4
Lorne Eckersley
Creston painter Alison Masters added a touch of colour to a snowy Calgary afternoon on Saturday with a show featuring her recent work at the Midtowne Gallery. She posed in front of her painting of a poppy field on the Creston Flats.
Little change to town taxes BY LORNE ECKERSLEY Advance Staff An analysis of Town of Creston finances reveals that there has been little change to municipal property taxes beyond policing costs, the town’s finance director said at the Oct. 28 regular meeting. At the request of councillors, Steffan Klassen presented an analysis that
Nelson troupe bringing Rent tour to Creston Page 14
DISCOVERY REAL ESTATE
KES, trails society give updates Page 3
includes the 2012-2013 actual taxes and the 2014-2018 five-year financial plan. “The actual budget tax increase, excluding NMC (new construction) from 2018 over 2011 is 44.6 per cent,” he said. Policing costs account for 39.54 per cent. “From 2011 to 2018, when new construction and policing costs are removed, taxation is budgeted to increase 5.06 per cent over the seven years,” he said. “This taxation increase is subject to change
based on council’s direction for upcoming budget years.” For a residential property with an average assessment ($201,465 in 2009 to $218,901 in 2014), Klassen presented a chart showing the general municipal portion of the property tax bill went from $803 in 2009 to $1,129 in 2014. Policing costs rose by about $200 over that period. See COUNCIL, page 5
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