Dear Editor:
I'm writing this in response to your March 20 story, TransLink Appeals SeaBus Assessment.
Don't you find that the content of some news articles make you sit up and go "hhmm"?
To me, this is one of these articles. I started to try to link up the financial connections between TransLink and the City of North Vancouver; I came up with this:
Expansion of public transportation is a priority for all regions of Metro Vancouver. Taxpayers throughout the region are forking over huge dollars to support this important priority; a portion of property taxes, gas taxes and bridge tolling to name a few examples. The same taxpayers also support their local governments through property taxes and other fees.
I don't dispute this reality and support the notion of everyone contributing to the betterment of our society. I do take offence, however, to important public funding for TransLink to expand its services and increase ridership being funnelled to municipal governments for "things we had planned on doing," as stated by City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto.
Funding for TransLink (whether it be taxpayer, user fees, provincial or federal funding) should go towards improving and expanding transit services for all, not to "things" municipalities "planned on doing."
My suggestion: Stop the shell game, create transparency about where taxpayer funding goes, allow TransLink to put its funding to its core purpose and find efficiencies or re-assess priorities in local government.
Don't re-assess the value of the properties, stop charging this "public entity" property taxes in the first place.
Andrew Parr North Vancouver
