“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The Diary was flattered on Wednesday at the Chamber of Commerce meeting when the mayor referred to “our numbers” for Queens Place . It was undeserved flattery as we have no numbers of our own nor would we have any way to get our own. The only numbers we use are those provided by the region in their latest budget. There may be another set somewhere but we are not privy to them.
To review we reported that the new budget projected revenues of $506,910 with expenses of $1,026,606 giving a deficit of $519,696. Our accounting consultant pointed out that we failed to include the debenture payment of $158,369 plus its interest of $90,381 so the total cost to the taxpayers of Queens is $786,446 ( $519,696 + $158369 + 90,381).
As much as we would like to take credit for all this we are indebted to the region for supplying clear and unambiguous accounting for QP. As you may recall there were those who complained about the accounting used by the previous administration to sell the QP project. We still unclear whether it is Paul we robbed to pay Peter or Peter we robbed to pay Paul but in the end our accounting consultant assures us it is all came out of the public pocket.
So if you were at the meeting and want to see “our” numbers we regret to disappoint you.
Imagine for a moment that you have appealed your assessment and PVSC told you they thought your assessment was fair but it is clear to you that they really didn’t give your property a fair examination (this is a common complaint. One person appealed and the assessor simply drove past stating later that he stood by his assessment) but that is a story for another time.
For now assume you have decided to appeal further to the Assessment tribunal which is your right and, in fact what you should do. Anyone who accepts PVSC’s assessment without question is simply asking to have his/her pocket picked at tax time.
You have prepared your case well. You have comparable property sales that are all lower than your assessment. You present your case methodically and carefully. The chairman of your hearing compliments you on your appeal.and rules in your favour. Great you can sit back and relax – or can you.
Next year PVSC raises your assessment despite the fact that property values are dropping. It’s small increase so you let it slide.Next year, however, PVSC raises your assessment by a huge amount well over the Tribunal’s corrected assessment. What is happening here? One thing that isn’t happening is any semblance of fairness.
Here is an actual example.
In 2011 the land value of a property is assessed at $195,000. The owner appealed and received a judgement reducing the property valuation to $150,000.
In 2012 PVSC raises the assessment to $153,000. The property owner does not appeal figuring it isn’t worth the effort even though he knows similar land values are dropping.
In 2013 he is assessed at $165,000. He has still not had the hearing for his 2012 assessment and PVSC is happy with their valuation (and probably happier that no appeal has been heard).
Clearly the Tribunal ruling doesn’t amount to much if PVSC is going to raise the assessment the following year on a whim in what looks suspiciously like a vindictive action.
You can almost hear them,” We can’t allow this guy to get away with this so let’s stick it to him later.” And they do. But they don’t stop there, they raise his house value as well even though house values for similar houses are dropping like stones.
The lesson is that you must appeal, appeal again and again and again etc. etc.. PVSC doesn’t even have to get off their dead behinds to raise your assessment and probably laughs themselves silly at how they have stuck it to you.
Many people have written to me saying how courteous PVSC employees were but than followed up by saying they thought they had been screwed. Well, they probably were screwed. PVSC can afford to be nice because, by law you have to prove they are in the wrong.
Meanwhile, your municipality which owns PVSC sits by complacently reaping the benefits of high assessments while paradoxically, ignoring low assessments.
So much for a “Fairly valued Nova Scotia”
It came as a surprise when Council placed the SPCA proposal ( http://qcfa.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/a-failed-proposal/ ) the agenda for the last COW. Unfortunately the SPCA says they did not get an invitation to appear at the Committee and, so could not answer any questions. When we presented the draft document to the region we hoped it would initiate a dialogue between the region and the SPCA where problems and concerns could be addressed. I knew the draft was not perfect because there had been almost no input from the Region. Maybe a future iteration will profit from regional input.
I commend councillors Inglis and Fralic for recognizing that the primary focus of the proposal was to improve the image of Queens and specifically Liverpool. It is difficult to buy the kind of good advertising that would result from a program that benefits animals. What some of the councillors may not have known is that the SPCA receives no funding from the region or the province ( I believe they got $500 a couple of years back from the region). Every year they raise every penny of their operating budget from bake sales, the thrift shop, events and donations from the public. Every penny goes to spay and neuter programs, rescuing abused and abandoned animals, and educational programs. The Queens SPCA has no paid employees. Many volunteers put in hundreds of hours and drive thousands of kilometres in their volunteer work that goes unrecognized.
Yes, the SPCA could use the money from the proposed program but will survive without it.
Hopefully, if the idea is ever brought forward again, the region will engage in a co-operative dialogue with the SPCA or maybe some of the other charitable organizations who could benefit from the suggested program.
Anyone looking for bright spots in the tourism business in Queens need look no further than wilderness tourism. If a person were picked up in Algonquin Park in Ontario and flown blindfolded to Kedji they would have a hard time knowing where they were (unless they were botanists). Algonquin park is heavily promoted and gets considerable use. There is no clear reason why the same can’t happen with Kedji with the added bonus of sea kayaking at the Adjunct. Granted, having hours cut back by the government doesn’t help and it is strange that the provincial government and Federal governments appear to be playing from different music. One avenue towards making good use of parks is having franchisees operate them fro a rational fee.
It would not surprise me to find out that Rossignol Surf Shop and Liverpool Adventure Outfitters have already explored this. Yes, government moves at a glacial pace but maybe some pressure from the region and the transition people should help. In any case both businesses have the expertise to operate the parks. If they needed some financing then I can think of no more worthy focus.
The nice thing about this is that we have the attraction just waiting to be used.
Being used to Ontario where every other car seems to have a canoe or kayak on its roof racks it seems like we have an unexploited resource where a boat on the roof can turn heads.
There are tie-ins as well. The Dark sky reserve is one. A past editor of Sky Magazine bought our house in Ontario simply because there was so little light pollution. He built his own small observatory and actively promoted amateur astronomy.
I have often heard bicyclists comment on the potential for bike tours and motorcyclists the same. If Queens is a well kept secret it’s probably time to change that. Running activities here at the same time as The Wharf Rat Rally cannot help but be successful. The rally gets heavy promotion and Queens has not capitalized on it as well as it could. In fact, many bikers feel that Queens has an anti biker attitude. Of course, if the Region organizes something it has to let people who understand bikers do the organizing. Our bureaucrats probably don’t have the expertise.
A person with imagination can easily see how three or more activities could be merged to provide a unique and interesting experience.
