Dear Editor:
Re: Lower Lonsdale BIA Counter Petition Process Rankles, July 24 Mailbox.
Mr. (Joel) Posluns states that the business improvement levy is an additional tax, an unjustifiable money grab, a downloading of the cost to businesses for the city’s poor street maintenance, and the BIA process breaches the city charter.
None of these are true, but are fiction spread to Lower Lonsdale businesses.
Here are the facts:
Every penny of every business’ annual BIA levy goes to their Business Improvement Association, where Mr. Posluns, and all other business operators, will vote on how their money is spent. That’s not a tax or money grab in any sense.
The city cannot download costs to the BIA as it does not control how the BIA’s money is spent. If the city has been reducing street maintenance at Mr. Posluns’ location, his BIA is the very advocate he needs to tackle city hall officials to get them to restore that maintenance.
The counter-petition process has created all 73 BIAs in B.C. over the past 26 years. This process is set out in the Community Charter, B.C.’s legislation that governs how municipal governments must operate. City council is simply following that process.
Mr. Posluns, and all other businesses, can vote to kill the BIA every year at its annual general meeting. All 73 B.C. BIAs are still going strong.
We invite all business owners and operators to inform themselves by visiting the Lower Lonsdale Business Association’s website, or talk to us at our canopy at Car Free Days Aug. 13-14 on Lonsdale.
Bill Curtis, president
Lower Lonsdale Business Association
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