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Barlow Creek to vote on loan options for fire tender truck

March 22, 2024
24-05

Barlow Creek to vote on loan options for fire tender truck

Quesnel, BC – Voters in the Barlow Creek fire protection service area are being given a choice over how long funding will be borrowed to purchase a new fire tender for their fire department. The Regional District will be borrowing up to $650,000 to make this purchase, and is asking voters in the service area for approval to extend the borrowing over a ten-year period. An interactive map is available on the regional district’s website with fire protection area boundaries.

If the borrowing is approved by voters, residents can expect property taxes to increase by up to $37.16 per $100,000 of the net taxable value of buildings only, a 51.8% increase. The total increase depends on whether future building values in the service area increase or decrease; however, the portion of taxes levied to repay the loan will be the same. The current 2024 residential tax rate for the Barlow Creek Fire Protection Area is $71.70 per $100,000.

However, if a majority of the votes are against the ten-year borrowing option, the Volunteer Fire Department is still required to purchase a new fire tender. In that case, the same amount of funds would need to be borrowed over a much shorter five-year period, which does not require voter approval. With a five-year borrowing term, residential property taxes would need to increase by $65.30 per $100,000 of assessed value of buildings only, a 91.1% increase in annual taxation.

Resident and Non-Resident Property Electors will have an opportunity to make their opinion count by casting their vote at one of three voting opportunities or by a mail ballot. Residents can vote in-person :

Advance Voting Opportunity #1, April 17, 2024 in Quesnel City Hall, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.;
Advance Voting Opportunity #2, April 22, 2024 at the Barlow Creek Community Hall, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and
General Voting Day, April 27, 2024 at the Barlow Creek Community Hall, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Mail ballots can be requested from the Chief Election Officer beginning on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, and can be requested up until April 25, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. Mail ballots must be packaged according to the instructions contained in each ballot package to ensure that your vote remains secret, otherwise the ballot will be rejected. Completed mail ballots must be received by the Chief Election Officer by 4:00 p.m. on April 26, 2024 at either the Quesnel or Williams Lake office, or deposited with the Chief Election Officer at the Barlow Creek Community Hall by 8:00 p.m. on General Voting Day.

More information about voter eligibility and the proposal can be found on the CRD’s website at www.cariboord.ca/BarlowCreek-Fire-Truck.