ROTHENBURGER: City council needs wisdom of Solomon on tax ratios
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
THE ANNUAL DANCE between Domtar and the City is underway.
For the past eight or nine years, the pulp mill has been demanding a better deal on the taxes it and other heavy industries pay to the City. At one point, Domtar even threatened taking the City to court.
It all centers on the ratio of taxes paid by heavy industry compared to other categories, including homeowners. The Kamloops Voters Society has now come out of hibernation to object to the shifting of tax burden.
In a letter to council, the KVS makes a vow of its own — to wage a public campaign on the issue.
Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
A fair deal would be Domtar gets a tax break and Domtar gives the City an access road (which could be gravel only for now and graded regularly) from the TCH near the weight scale to Domtar which could be used for all heavy truck traffic going to that part of the City. It would eventually be connected to the west end of north Kamloops when the bridge near the airport gets built. That way all heavy truck traffic gets redirected from the downtown which would be a great thing!