A new carbon tax is headed for Squamish aimed specifically at the municipality. On Tuesday (April 29) council gave preliminary approval to put $12,945 in the operational budget for a carbon tax reserve fund. The money is a rough estimate of the amount the municipality would owe in carbon tax based on its fleet, streetlights, and other municipal services that eat up energy in one year. Coun. Raj Kahlon, who brought the idea forward as a Notice of Motion on April 15, came to the estimate by following District of Saanich carbon tax numbers with adjustments made for Squamish's much smaller population.The formula puts $15 tax on each municipally generated ton of carbon. While there are few details about how the money collected would be spent, Kahlon said it could help with the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles. "In the beginning $12,000 is not going to do much," he said, adding it would accumulate over the years into a more substantial fund.But Coun. Patricia Heintzman already had some ideas for how the money could be spent in the near future. She said it might go toward the district's energy fund, which did not appear on the 2008 budget. She said it could also be spent on a public relations campaign encouraging people to use reusable bags. In a brief description of the promotion, she described a program where a reusable bag would be sent to every home in Squamish with a letter outlining the benefits of using it.The preliminary decision comes two months after the B.C. government unveiled its own carbon tax, which will take effect July 1. The tax will apply to fossil fuels, such as gasoline, natural gas and propane.Although the municipal carbon tax will have less of a direct effect on residents, Kahlon said it would inspire other community groups and businesses to set their own carbon targets."By doing this, I'm challenging the whole community. We're doing it by example," he said.Extra officers hinge on province supportAfter offering to fund the greater part of an RCMP officer's position at Howe Sound Secondary, the district had added some new conditions to the deal. Rather than adding just one officer to the town's team of 23, the district is considering adding two more with one dedicated to schools. However, before the funding is delivered, council has asked the province to chip in their own support by providing four more officers for Highway 99 patrol. Mayor Ian Sutherland said this strategy could alleviate some of the pressure felt on local officers who sometimes find themselves pulled outside of Squamish to focus on accidents in places such as Furry Creek."If they add four extra members it's going to benefit us," he said. Chief Administrative Officer Kim Anema encouraged Sutherland to consult with RCMP staff before making the request.Kahlon said he would like RCMP officers to monitor how often incidents take them outside of district boundaries, suggesting this time be billed to the province."I want to see sending them an invoice and taking it from there," he said. Currently, there is no structure in place for tracking those hours, Anema said. The motion to fund two officers on the condition of seeing four provincially funded officers added to the highway was approved, with Kahlon opposed. Numerous Grant in Aid requests deniedCouncil members had to hand out many more nos than yeses as they worked through 38 Grant in Aid (GIA) applications requesting a total of $418,303.34.The GIA budget for 2008 is $65,000. With about $41,000 of this sum already spent on events such as Wild at Art, there was less than $24,000 to dole out to the remaining causes. To make the decisions easier, council resolved not to offer any funding to a number of groups they felt had received sufficient support in the past. No grant money was given to the Howe Sound Women's Centre, since district staff had already lent its services to help the group find a new location."A substantial amount of staff time was spent in lieu of Grant in Aid," Sutherland said.A $30,000 request to help support the South Asian senior women's group run by the women's centre was denied for the same reason.Kahlon did not agree the group should be completely shut off from grant money, asking if council would support a much smaller grant of $5,000. The idea failed in a split vote, as Coun. Greg Gardner, Coun. Corinne Lonsdale, Coun. Jeff McKenzie and Heintzman voted against it.Council also had little to spare for the Helping Hands Society that requested $25,000 to help with the operation costs of the homeless drop-in centre. "To me, it's like so many things we've been forced to say no to this year," said Sutherland. "I think they've been able to do a fairly good job in the community of fundraising."Lonsdale warned the fundraising effort would die out and asked council to consider funding a $3,000 GIA to give currently volunteers some time off in the summer. Council approved the $3,000 grant.The Eagle Watch program will receive $3,000, while the Canadian Cancer Society will receive free use of Brennan Park during Relay for Life this June. Council also agreed to put $4,000 toward Canada Day celebrations, which include fireworks.
