Greetings Beloved Community,
It has come to our attention that without strong protest there will be a dramatic change in Metchosin Tax exemption for non-profit organizations in Metchosin. The Major and council appear to be determined to push through a decision to cease to provide tax exemptions. This will result in an annual tax bill of a minimum of $14,943 to a likely $33,539.
Judy Rann, Scott Dolff, and Ed Bennington have actively been gathering information and advice as well as contacting the mayor and/or council members. Please feel free to talk to them for further clarification and information. Judy and her dad have provide some key points:
What to do?
Scott also has raised some excellent points which you may want to mention in your letter or conversation with the mayor and/or council member.
I have attached a number of documents. One is an email sent out by the Association for the Protection of Rural Metchosin (APRM) to its members with an excellent summary of the situation which includes a suggested template for a letter/email. I have also attached examples of other letters already sent to council, and the report sent to council from the staff on the tax exemption (referred to as Permissive Tax Exemptions). In this report the following statement is made:
Anglican Church — The local churches meet Councils strategic priority of cultural and community activity building based on the events held and congregating of residents in the community. A star was added to the fiscal need section, as the church itself does not have significant resources, however the Anglican Church of Canada has significant resources.
The staff are obviously under a false impression of the financial resources available to the Anglican Church of Canada. The National Church is experiencing the same financial crisis as every parish and diocese and are in the process of making extremely difficult decisions on ways to reduce their budget. Even if they did have the financial resources, we as a local parish would not have access to those funds.
I know it’s a lot to read, if you are short on time, I recommend the APRM email and the staff report.
I urge you to contact the mayor and/or council to express your concerns.
Yours in Christ,
Lynn
Rev. Dr. Lynn Mills ec
St. Mary of the Incarnation, Metchosin, BC
lmills@bc.anglican.ca
778-533-1315