by Ken Forsman A new Powell River Public Library would be nice, but is not feasible at this time and maybe not ever.
I’m amazed at all the numbers being touted in a recent viewpoint article. I am out in the community a fair bit and have been at a few public meetings about the library. Here are some observations.
I have noticed that a lot of the people pushing the library are from the rural areas of Powell River Regional District and as such don’t pay as much as City of Powell River residents. It’s always easy to spend taxpayers’ money when it’s not yours. This reminds me of Powell River Recreation Complex many years ago. We paid, rural people didn’t.
I must live in another world, I guess, because in my world I don’t know anyone who wants to pay more taxes but in the viewpoint it stated that 69 per cent of people polled would accept a tax increase. Who was polled? No one I know got a call. My own house taxes have gone up $500 in the past five years and my house value has dropped. We already pay some of the highest taxes anywhere in BC.
As with a lot of cities Canada-wide, we have infrastructure problems that are far more important to taxpayers than a new library. Just ask the home owners on Jordan Street who have been living for months with a flooded road from a blown main. We are far from seeing the end of these kinds of problems.
A huge draw for tourists? You have to be kidding. Have you talked to tourist-based businesses? Their numbers are mostly down. A good barometer is our own Willingdon Beach Campsite. It was not busy this year because our ferry fares (that’s another story) are killing the tourist traffic. I can’t see anyone paying $120 (one person, one car) return to come and see a library.
Finally, when a library was first proposed we were talking $3 million and now we are at $9.5 million for the latest Taj Mahal. As with a lot of taxpayer projects, they are never on budget. How high will this one go? This doesn’t take into account how much to run it. The library’s operating budget in 2013 is about $1.1 million. Taxpayers contribute $755,159 of that, with city taxpayers contributing $530,222 and rural taxpayers $224,937. You can bet that will probably double and be a continuing burden on our taxes.
Ken Forsman is a concerned taxpayer living in Powell River
