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Village of Pemberton residents face three tax referendums

Tax exempt status sought for seniors’ housing, Legion, and golf course

Pemberton voters will be deciding the tax fates of three local non-profits this Saturday.

The Lions Activity Society, the society that operates the Pemberton Lions, the Pemberton Legion and the Pemberton Valley Golf and Country Club are seeking exemptions from municipal taxes. When the requests were brought before council this September, Councillor Mark Blundell suggested that all three requests be taken to referendum in November.

Those eligible to vote in the Village of Pemberton will be receiving individual ballots asking each of the following "yes" or "no" questions:

• Are you in favour of Council considering providing for a permissive tax exemption for the Pemberton Valley Golf and Country Club for a maximum of five (5) years at an estimated tax forgiveness of $178,000?

• Are you in favour of Council considering providing for a permissive tax exemption for the Pemberton Legion for a maximum of five (5) years at an estimated tax forgiveness of $58,000?

• Are you in favour of Council considering providing for a permissive tax exemption for the Pemberton Lions Society for a maximum of five (5) years at an estimated tax forgiveness of $36,500?

Permissive tax exemption is provided for under Division 7, Section 224 of the Community Charter. The results of these questions would be non-binding as the council would have to consider a tax exemption bylaw. The soonest the exemption could come into affect would be the 2007 tax year.

Myron Ayres is current president of the Pemberton chapter of the Lions and sits on the board of the Lions Activity Society.

"This is our only seniors' housing in the community," said Ayres.

Built as a Pemberton Centennial project in 1985, the 20-year-old building is now showing signs of age.

"There are huge demands on upkeep," says Ayres. "Because of the age of the facility we have some air quality problems that need to be addressed."

Ayres also points out that given the Villas residents’ health considerations "you can’t just not replace an air conditioner" when it goes.

The eight, one-bedroom rental units represent the only Sea to Sky corridor seniors housing north of Squamish. Income-reflective housing costs make it uniquely affordable to area seniors. The annual tax exemption being sought by the Lions Activity Society is $6,100.

Operating from an aging building is also a concern for Royal Canadian Legion president Bruce Carson.

"The building had its grand opening in 1967," said Carson. "So maintenance is getting very costly."

The legion president worries that the cost of keeping the building going could have a negative impact on the organization's charitable work. Currently, through the project-specific Poppy Fund, which provides for such things as post-secondary education bursaries, and the meat draw, Carson estimates the organization contributes more than $9,000 to the community annually through sponsorship of programs such as the Signal Hill Lunch Program.

Additionally, the facility hosts individual organization’s fundraising events. The annual tax exemption requested by the legion comes to slightly more than $11,000 a year.

While the Lions and legion’s requests appear very straightforward, the request from the Pemberton Valley Golf and Country Club appears mired in history. The VOP-owned facility is at odds with the village over the understanding of agreements governing the financial responsibilities of each party.

"We were taken by surprise by this from the start," said Dave Paterson, president of the PVGCC board. "We had an agreement starting in 1998 with the VOP. The lands (Crown land that constitutes the course’s back nine) became available for purchase but only to the VOP. It was a great deal, but a lot of money. So there was an agreement made between the village and the golf club that the golf course would take on that mortgage (and) in return the facility would be tax exempt for 10 years."

Paterson says that this agreement was honoured for the first five years, but for the past two years, the organization has been paying annual taxes of more than $36,000 per year, as well as meeting the $26,000 mortgage commitment.

According to the VOP, the 10-year agreement with the golf course was specific to a lease on the property. For $1 a year, the PVGCC leased the back nine from the village. Tax exemption requests were to be addressed on a year-by-year basis. Up until this year, there was no provision for offering long-term tax exemption in the Community Charter.

Paterson says that while the requests for tax exemption were dealt with on a year by year basis, there was a verbal understanding that the exemption would be granted for 10 years, the term of the mortgage.

"On the surface it looks ridiculous, a golf course receiving a tax exemption, but when it’s promised to you and you’re stuck paying a mortgage for another several years… so basically we’re paying double," said Paterson.

Paterson sees the PVGCC with its affordable green fees – an average of $40 per round – as "one of the very few actual community amenities we have."

"Previous councils cannot dictate what future council’s are going to do. All though it’s out there that there was a 10-year agreement (on tax exemption) there was no such thing at the time," confirmed Councillor Mark Blundell.