Craik

Craik proposes property tax reform

CRAIK—Taxpayers in Craik, last Thursday had the chance to learn about proposed changes to Craik’s property tax system.

Craik town council had a public meeting to tell citizens about its intention to reform the property tax system to make it fairer for all property owners.

At its Feb. 15 meeting, Craik council approved, in principle, the implementation of a base property tax of $700 per year with a mill rate of 5.5. These rates will be applied to every residential property in town so that all properties are taxed the same.

If approved the change will increase municipal taxes for people who pay the lowest property taxes—mostly on vacant lots and older houses. People who pay the highest property taxes—those with newer houses—will see a reduction in their tax bills.

Currently Craik uses a minimum tax system.

Craik Mayor David Ashdown said the minimum tax system was implemented a number of years ago to discourage speculation and to encourage owners of vacant properties to make improvements and develop the lots. Ashdown said the minimum tax does not seem high enough to have this intended effect. He said it also does nothing to encourage people to make improvements to their properties that are close to the minimum tax because larger, improved homes receive higher assessment values resulting in higher property taxes.

The tax reforms were initiated after a delegation of 10 homeowners attended council’s meeting in December raising their concerns that due to reassessment, which is done every four years by the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA), their property taxes went up considerably. The delegation consisted of people who own newer homes in the town. Ashdown said assessments went up on new properties while assessments went down on older home.

When it set the 2017 mill rate Ashdown said council tried to offset the increase in assessment values by lowering the mill rate from 13.85 to 12.85.

“It helped,” Ashdown said, but he said some property owners had a substantial increase.

“If you have 10 homeowners in a town our size coming forward with a concern you have to listen to them.”

To read the full story you’ll need to subscribe. Phone 306-567-2047, email davidsonleader@sasktel.net or press the “subscribe” button.

Dundurn

RM of of Dundurn to hold plebiscite on community complex

DUNDURN—Voters in the RM of Dundurn will be heading to the polls later this month to answer two questions concerning the construction of a multi-purpose community complex in the municipality.

At a special meeting Jan. 26, the RM of Dundurn council passed a bylaw to provide for a plebiscite on the question of building a recreational complex.

The two questions voters will answer are:

  • Do you support the construction of a multi-purpose community complex? Yes or No;
  • What is your preferred location in the RM? North end or Close to Town of Dundurn.

An advance poll is scheduled for March 24 with general voting taking place March 28 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the RM of Dundurn office in Dundurn. Results of the vote will be declared at 8:30 p.m. at the RM office on the 28th of March.

“In my mind, the biggest issue with the plebiscite is the wording of the questions,” said Glen Cline. He’s a resident of Division 2 in the RM.

He’s concerned that the plebiscite doesn’t give him an option to say he’s in favour of the complex if it’s built in the Town of Dundurn.

“Where is close to town? I phoned three councillors and asked them where ‘close to town’ is and no one could answer that,” Cline said.

To read the full story, you’ll need to subscribe. Phone 306-567-2047 or email davidsonleader@sasktel.net. Or press the “subscribe” button.

Bladworth, Davidson

Fishy Fundraiser nets $5,500 for Telemiracle

Children await for the fish to race at the Davidson Kinsmen Club’s Goldfish Races in Bladworth Feb. 24. The annual event raised $5,500 for Kinsmen Telemiracle.

BLADWORTH—The Davidson Kinsmen kicked off Telemiracle week on Feb. 24 with the 13th running of the Goldfish Races.

The annual event had people of all ages enjoying a meal of fish and chips cooked by the Bladworth Elks, followed by the popular goldfish auction and races.

The fish auction earned $5,500 for Kinsmen Telemiracle, which took place in Regina on the weekend.

The Elks served more than 125 orders of fish and chips.

The auction attracted lots of attention and plenty of speculation as people tried to outbid one another to acquire the fastest fish.

The athletes were picked out by Davidson Kinsmen Club member Gerrid Gust and his children at a Saskatoon pet store. The fishes’ pedigrees ranging from the feeder variety of goldfish up to more colourful specimens.

“The prettier ones seem to go for higher prices,” Gust said of results at the auction.

Their athletic ability, however, is questionable.

The Kinsmen don’t keep stats on the outcome of the races. Goldfish, it seems are unpredictable swimmers.

Some fish, perform poorly and don’t seem to get the hang of swimming to the other end of the eavestrough.

To read the full story, you’ll need to subscribe. Phone 306-567-2047 or email davidsonleader@sasktel.net

Davidson

Agros bed push pops into Davidson for repairs

The U of S Agros bed push for Kinsmen Telemiracle rolled past Davidson last Friday, but not without stopping at Western Sales to make some repairs to the bed. A wheel broke off Thursday, a temporary repair was made to get the bed to Davidson Friday for further repairs. Every two years agriculture students from the U of S in Saskatoon push the bed to Regina to raise money for Telemiracle. As of noon Friday, they had raised $29,000, including a $500 donation from Western Sales, and were confident they’d reach their $30,000 goal.
(Leader photo by Tara de Ryk)
Davidson

Influenza cases continue to rise

Stats from Saskatchewan’s weekly flu report indicate Influenza B cases continue to increase.

DAVIDSON—The number of confirmed influenza cases in Saskatchewan continues to rise. The trend shows no sign of abating.

For the week ending Feb. 17, there were 2,422 lab-confirmed cases of influenza in Saskatchewan since September, a 71 per cent increase over the number of cases at this time last year.

There were 121 new influenza cases identified for the week of Feb. 11 to 17, according to the Saskatchewan Weekly Influenza Surveillance Report, 13 fewer cases than the 134 new cases reported the week before.

People between the ages of 20 and 64 years of age followed by seniors age 65 and over are the folks most affected by flu this season.

Since September there have been 34 severe cases requiring admission to hospital and 11 deaths due to influenza.

Earlier in the season influenza A was the type most detected, with a noticeable spike from Dec. 23 to Jan. 20. After that influenza A detections have declined, however tests positive for influenza B have continued to climb and continue to be well above expected levels for this time of year.

Dr. David Torr, a medical health officer with Saskatchewan Health Authority, said this flu season has been different from past seasons.

“We were surprised to see (influenza) B in October, so early in the season,” Torr said. “Every year it has its surprises. This year B came in really early and said, ‘hey! I’m here.'”

He said A usually peaks around the end of December and declines through January then the B strain takes over. To have the B strain active since the fall is unusual.

To read the full story, you’ll need a subscription. Phone 306-567-2047 or email davidsonleader@sasktel.net

Hanley

Hanley to address concerns over street names

Motorists travelling north on 2nd Street in Hanley have two streets to choose from when they come to this intersection. If they turn right, they’ll head east on Walter Scott Street. If they turn left, then they’ll be going west on Canada Street. At some point in the town’s history, the western tip of Walter Scott Street was renamed Canada Street.

HANLEY—Members of Hanley Senior Citizens club have a simple way to help strangers find their way around town.

When someone stops and asks for directions, they tell the stranger to follow them.

It’s easier to guide them to their destination than try to explain how to find a specific address.

This confusion could soon be cleared up.

The town of Hanley is looking at changing some civic addresses to make it easier for emergency services to find people in town.

Recent updates to the Provincial Civic Address Registry and the SASKPA911, the service that dispatches emergency services to the town, has prompted towns such as Hanley to update their civic addresses. Not all the town’s addresses are registered, so in the case of an emergency, it may be difficult or impossible for personnel unfamiliar with the town to locate people in distress.

Changes the town intends to make include switching some streets to avenues.

“The north-south streets are all correct, but there are a few streets that should be called avenues,” Darice Carlson, Hanley’s administrator, said.

These would be Walter Scott, Canada, Garfield, Lincoln and Grant streets. These streets are already registered with Information Services Corporation as avenues, however, back in 1984 Hanley town council made a bylaw calling them streets causing the confusion.

Another perplexing area in town is Canada and Walter Scott street. Despite the two different names, they are both the same street (that is supposed to be an avenue). At the intersection of 2nd Street, turn one way and you’re on Canada Street, turn the opposite direction, then it becomes Walter Scott Street.

To read the full story, you’ll need a subscription. Phone 306-567-2047 or email davidsonleader@sasktel.net

The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan