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THE BULLETIN PROUDLY SERVING KIMBERLEY AND AREA SINCE 1932 | Vol. 84, Issue 68 | www.dailybulletin.ca
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Flat tax on its way out Mayor asks if there is an appetite to step back; have staff analyze flat tax decision. Four Councillors say no. C AROLYN GR ANT Bulletin Editor
Despite a last attempt by Mayor Don McCormick — who has been arguing against removing the flat tax from the start — to have Council step back and ask for a staff report on the consequences, there was no appetite among a majority of Kimberley City Councillors for such a move. The flat tax will be reduced by $80 this year, beginning a ten year process to end it entirely. In the end it came down to two differing philosophies on the value of the flat tax. Mayor Don McCormick firmly believes that removing it puts too big a burden on higher value property owners, as once the flat tax is gone, the missing income has to be made up, likely in millrate increases. On the other hand, Councillors Kent Goodwin (who led the charge), Bev Middlebrook, Darryl Oakley and Nigel Kitto believe the flat tax (which is
the same $786 for every property) is unfair to those who own lower value properties. Both sides put up good arguments at a special Council meeting on Wednesday evening, but the four councillors in favour of removal of the tax would not be swayed. The motion that passed a couple of weeks ago will stand, although it will come to Council again at the regular meeting on Monday night just to finish the process. McCormick brought the issue back to Council after it was already passed, which is his prerogative as Mayor. His point was that every single time Council makes a major decision there was a staff report which offers recommendation to Council. “After discussion at Council, there was a vote which was four to three,” he said. “There was no time to engage staff for a report. It was a done deal. But there were questions in my mind. What hap-
pens if we do this? Are there other consequences? “Do we have the capacity to absorb this and if so how? The millrate is important to the community. Keeping it within reason is important. “My goal isn’t to convince any of the four councillors to change their minds but to ask Council to step back and take a broader look.” “I thought about it,” said Goodwin. “But I think we move forward. I am prepared to make the motion again. I am not against analysis. But it’s a small step each year. “We have the highest flat tax, a parcel tax, high utility fees. For lower value properties it’s not fair.” Coun. Sandra Roberts supported McCormick’s suggestion of a staff report, saying she voted against the motion because she didn’t feel she had sufficient information. Coun. Albert Hoglund also agreed with the Mayor. See TAX, page 3
Be vigilant about scams C AROLYN GR ANT Bulletin Editor
There are plenty of scams out there and Kimberley resident Mike Honeyman would like to make you aware of one he recently got caught up in. This one is a change of address scam. A crook changes your address so that all your mail gets diverted to them. They can steal whatever information they need before the victim notices something is wrong. More commonly, the
scammer has already stolen the victim’s identity and arranges for credit card bills taken out in the victim’s name to go to another address. Honeyman says that this week, his parents, for some reason he doesn’t understand, received a notice from Canada Post saying that his name, coupled with their address had a change notice. “I dug around and found out the change had been applied for online,” Honeyman said. “All our mail was going to go to an address in Ontar-
io.”
He has been working with the anti-fraud people, he says. “There was activity on my credit, people trying to apply for credit under my name. If my parents hadn’t seen that notice... I don’t think they got anything, but it could have been bad.” Honeyman did speak to the police, but was told many of these scams originate out of the country and were hard to track. “It really is about being vigilant,” he said.
BARRY COULTER PHOTO
Galactus, a titantic figure who feeds by draining living planets of their energy (one planet is pictured in his left hand), and a prominent antagonist of the Silver Surfer (who is barely visible in his right hand), is walking the streets of Cranbrook. Oh, who will save us! Wait, this Marvel Comics character is in reality Matt Glanfield of Kimberley, who is off to the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo (ComicCon) — Canada’s second largest pop culture event — later this month. Matt had his Galactus identity custom tailored for him by Richelle Casey of Richelle’s Custom Creations in Cranbrook.