Thursday, September 22, 2011

Township looking for revenue from City’s casino

So it looks like some at the Township have their eyes on getting casino money from the City of Langley again. When the casino originally came to Langley, both the Township and the City were approached. The Township didn’t want the casino and the City did. The Township’s Economic Advisory Committee received a presentation that shows the Township had a per capita debt of $59 in 2006 which has jumped to $390.03 in 2009. According to Township Administrator Mark Bakken, this debt is not necessarily “general debt”, but much of it comes from “development cost charges” that are still owed by developers and other groups. Meanwhile the City of Langley is debt free. The report seems to allude to the fact that the reason the City is in a better financial position is because of the casino.
Total debt issued per capita by municipality in Metro Vancouver, 2009. Click graph to enlarge.
On that matter Councillor Steve Ferguson attempted to introduce a motion where the Township would write a letter to Premier Clark on the proposed “sharing of casino revenues regionally” at yesterday’s afternoon council meeting.

The details of this are as follows:

Whereas:

1. In the province of BC, there are many different types of gaming facilities; and

2. Premier Christy Clark, in her concern for families, has begun a review of how gaming grants are established and issued; and

3. There are municipalities in the province that have casinos while others do not; and

4. Presently casino monies are distributed on a municipality by municipality basis.

Therefore be it resolved that the Township of Langley write a letter to Premier Christy Clark asking that the distribution of casino monies be reviewed and that the Province consider and endorse the regional distribution of casino monies, and in her review of gaming and gaming grants, review equitable distribution of gaming proceeds; and further that a copy of our 2011 budget information File #1700-60 (a comparison of property tax rates for municipalities with casinos compares with others that do not have casinos), and any other relative information be attached to the letter.”


In the end this motion didn’t pass because of the wording, but was deferred back to Councillor Ferguson to re-word. And people in the Township wonder why people in the City said good-bye in 1955…

1 comment:

Juan de Fuca said...

Regarding Cycling in Langley:

I moved to Langley from Victoria, a little less than a year ago and I am appalled at the absence of a bicycle infrastructure, primarily in the City.

The city is, in a word, unfriendly, to cyclists. We cyclists are either invisible to motorists or a giant pain in the behind to them, and we'd best get out of their way.

It would appear cyclists have a low priority with city councillors; there are hardly any bicycle lanes within the city, nor any signs that I've seen that might encourage the use of a bike.

For me, this bespeaks an attitude of contempt for those of us who prefer to travel this way. (I do own a nice car, by the way, which I use for other means).

In Victoria, I enjoyed a bicycle culture, which has a healthy acceptance for those on a bike.
There, a proper consideration is given to its cyclists.

Right-of-ways prevail throughout the city and most of Greater Victoria, and cyclists and motorists share the road equally.

Motorists and cyclists give way to each other, and don't feel threatened of being mowed down by vehicles on their tail, which is how I've felt at different times.

Within the city limits, it's hard to believe, but I've yet to see one female rider On occasions, perhaps a father and his son or two, whereas where I came from this was an everyday occurance.

People there enjoy their outings to town on their bikes, and hundreds commute, daily , to work and back.

The same activities could happen here as well, if there was a willingness, and a leadership push to make it so.