Editor:
Re: Uncharted territory for Surrey tax hike, Nov. 13.
Surrey First promised minimal tax increases during the civic election.
After being reelected last year, Coun. Tom Gill – finance chair since 2006 – expressed surprise at the finances, and we were hit with a hefty tax increase.
Now, despite promises from Gill to find other sources to fund added police officers, we are now looking at another hefty tax increase.
A Surrey First-controlled city hall also promised the 2007 road levy would only last for five years, and it now will continue for at least six more. I’m thinking it will be another GST and will always be there.
If we want competent financial managers, please remember Gill’s performance at the next election.
Bernhard Dandyk, Surrey
• • •
I remember how Surrey council increased our property taxes/fees by 10 per cent the week after they were elected. Now they want to further hit us with more increases mere months later? And this is to cover only $100 million for more RCMP?
Yet it seems Mayor Linda Hepner is also looking at an absurdly expensive train-track relocation to satisfy the whiny, elitist two per cent of property owners who knowingly chose to buy their homes near the beaches and the train tracks.
Mayor Hepner, it is time to do your civic duty and represent the majority of Surrey property owners and drop the track-relocation idea.
The property owners who bought along the beach fronts will have to live with their decisions, or move away.
The train tracks have been there for 106 years. The main cargo is coal. Has there been an evacuation due to a derailment? Has there been a fatality due to any hazardous material? There is no evidence to support a relocation.
If Crescent Beach has a safety issue, with its access road shut down by a possible train blockage, I suggest a special tax levy on Crescent Beach property owners alone to fund an underpass beneath the train tracks.
Anthony Rose, Surrey
• • •
Re: Fast-track to oblivion; Expectations of a bumpy ride, Nov. 4 letters.
Thank you for printing the letters from Maureen MacDonald with regard to saving the South Surrey watershed area and letter from Maureen Kerr about the new TransLink disruptions.
Why do those in charge appear to want to disrupt everything possible for those of us who have appreciated this area and its services for so long?
Surely the new residents don’t want to punish us the way city officials and transit planners appear determined to achieve. If these areas need increased development to improve the tax base, how come we still pay property taxes? With all the new industry, residential taxes shouldn’t be required.
Hey, how about a moratorium on new residents as of Dec. 31, 2015? No new residents for a year. Give the city officials time to “get real”.
Gerry Houlden, White Rock