Castlegar cash in question - budgets underscore urgency of Celgar situation
By Kyra Hoggan
Castlegar Mayor Lawrence Chernoff is still hoping Zellstoff Celgar will pay its delinquent $3.6-million tax bill for 2009 … before 2010 budgets become finalized, he said in an interview with The Source today.
Also a member of the board of directors for the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK), Chernoff is helping in the preliminary budget process for the district – but admits it’s a daunting task without more information about how the Celgar situation will play out.
“There’s no doubt we have to look at it carefully,” he said. “We have no choice – the bill hasn’t been paid. We’ve got to go with what’s there and see what happens.”
That being the case, he said, he’s still not prepared to give up altogether on seeing the funds and, in fact, has meetings scheduled for Nov. 16 with Celgar and with various provincial ministries on Nov. 18, to discuss the issue and its possible solutions.
“We won’t be able to pay the regional district if this goes another year,” he said. “We’ve paid everyone out (all the other taxing jurisdictions) for this year, but there’s no guarantee that Celgar will pay …this year, or next year. What do we do then?
“Where do you make the cuts? It’s either service or employees,” he added, making it clear neither option is acceptable to him.
“It’s our goal to resolve this issue with Celgar,” he said. “We’re still looking to have that paid … that’s the short-term goal, while the long-term goal is to see a new model (of major industry taxation in the province). I want this resolved sooner, rather than later.”
In the interim, he said, budgets have to be developed and plans made based on best-guess scenarios.
“We have to move ahead with business-as-usual; continue in the hope the bill will be paid,” he said. “It’s early in the process, so if we have to re-work some of it, we can.”
He said the city 2010 budget won’t be finalized until next March …but that still creates uncertainty, since Celgar’s 2010 tax bill won’t be due until July. Forming a budget without surety of payment, he said, is more than just problematic, “it’s huge.”
He said next week’s meetings are part of an ongoing dialogue in the search for a timely resolution to the issue.
There’s still no court date set for Celgar’s challenge of city tax bylaws to be heard before the B.C. Supreme Court.
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