Before Telkwa goes ahead with turning down provincial funding for a new water tower, they want to hear from the public.
The province approved the Trobak Water tower upgrade with 2/3rds funding.
Mayor Darcy Repen says for the village to pay their over 800 thousand dollar share, taxes would have to increase at least 10 per cent to pay that money over 20 years.
“I don’t think at all that people are going to be open to paying 45 hundred dollars a year in property taxes in a village that doesn’t even have paved roads,” says Repen.
He says on top of the cost of the water tower, the village still has to face costs to repair the rest of the water system including the treatment facility. To borrow the money long-term, the village would have to have a referendum costing over 8 thousand dollars. And to shorten the time on borrowing the 800k, Repen says taxes would soar even higher than 10 per cent.
“The right thing, in my opinion, for my community right now, is to dig in out heels and say you need to treat us fairly.”
The village will be holding a town hall at the Community Hall in Telkwa this Saturday from 1-3 p.m.