Skateboarders and roller-bladers in Weyburn should have new ramps to skate on by this summer if all goes well, after city council approved a $40,000 grant to be paid over two years for the Weyburn Youth Centre's proposed skateboard park.

The Youth Centre had a delegation of board members in to update council during their committee meeting prior to the public meeting, and was told then council was willing to commit some dollars to the project.

Executive director Brian Hopfe said in an interview after the meeting he was ecstatic that the project can now proceed.

"I'm pretty excited for the youth of Weyburn. We will probably be starting some site preparation as soon as the ground is dry in the spring. Now, with this in place, we can go forward and tell corporations, this is what the city is committed to and will you help us," said Hopfe.

Part of council's conditions for the grant is that construction has to be started by at least Oct. 1, 2004. If the deadline is not met, Coun. Bill McKenzie said he will seek council's approval to shift that commitment to his alternative site for the skateboard park, which he has proposed for Jubilee Park.

Hopfe said there should be no problem meeting the condition, saying at least some of the ramps should be in place by this summer, and if sufficient donations come in, the whole park could be up this year.

The director and board members told council they were grateful for the support as the park wouldn't have been possible without the city's contribution, which is roughly half of the project's total cost.

Asked for his reaction to council's decision, Coun. McKenzie said, "The bottom line for me is the kids. My biggest problem with the proposal was the time-frame."

He said he voted against this motion in committee, but decided to throw his support behind it when the motion came up for a vote in open council meeting.

"I'm hoping now the city has stepped up, these corporations are going to step up to support it. We've given Brian the ball, now we'll see if he can do it. The bottom line is, we need the park," said Coun. McKenzie. "I think the kids in Weyburn are going to be happy."

There were no monies set aside in the city's preliminary budget for the park, but now the funds are committed the money will be found elsewhere before council sets its final budget. By that time, any of a number of variables may help make that possible without raising taxes, including increased grants from the provincial government or local improvement projects being petitioned out, which would free up funds that are currently committed to them.

Council has delayed implementing a base tax system until the city has held some information meetings with the public, both to provide information about how the tax works and to gather input from city taxpayers.

At the start of Monday's council meeting, resident Ray Mazer made a presentation to council asking that the status quo be maintained, saying that a lot of people would find the tax unfair.

The city operates on the ad valorem system, which means taxes are based on the ability to pay, as they are based on the value of the property being taxed, said Mazer. The base tax would be set at one level to all property owners (in this case at $400) to cover the cost of core city services such as the police and fire departments.

"We have a system that isn't all that bad. If you can build a $300,000 house and you knew what the tax system was beforehand, what's the problem with paying the taxes? You're fortunate to be able to do that," he said.

The way the tax breaks downs is owners of lower-valued properties would end up paying more, and those with higher-value properties will pay less; in total, the tax would be revenue-neutral to the city.

Mazer suggested council should hold public information meetings before going ahead with the tax, and commented, "I don't think the wheel is broken, I think it works. You're just inviting controversy by going into this."

In explaining how the tax works, city manager Bob Smith said if council agrees to set the base tax at $400 per property, there are a total of 2,968 residential properties which have improvements.

With the base tax set as it's proposed, a home with a taxable assessed value of $20,000 would see an increase of $246 or 36 per cent in the tax bill; a home with a taxable assessment of $30,000 would see the tax bill rise by $169 or 16.5 per cent. A home assessed at $70,000, on the other hand, would see a decrease in taxes of $140 or 5.9 per cent, and a home worth $125,000 would see a decrease of $564 or 13.3 per cent.

Smith noted that the taxable assessment value of a home is approximately 70 per cent of the home's fair market value. For example, the home assessed at $70,000 would likely sell for around $100,000 on the housing market.

Provincial legislation allows a municipality to set a base tax, but not on exempt properties (such as church property) and not on school taxes.

The motion for a base tax was originally put forward by Coun. Rob Stephanson, who said he's looking for more fairness in the property tax system.

"Some households are paying five times as much for getting the same services as others. This tax is a fair indication that there are services everybody has to use. Whether people have one bathroom or three, to me is not an indication of the ability to pay," he said.

Coun. Ray Hamm said the ad valorem system is flawed and needs to be improved.

"I think that's a key issue in this whole debate, whether those who have the ability to pay should subsidize those who don't have as much ability to pay," he said.

Coun. Bill Rudachyk said meetings would be a good idea, noting he's had people come up to ask him how the tax works, and it's difficult to explain.

Council approved a list of local improvement projects for 2004 worth a total of $914,800, including paving of gravelled streets, recapping streets and replacement of one of the last cast iron water-mains left in Weyburn.

Of the total amount, the estimated city share would be $214,231, and the property share is $700,568.

The paving of gravelled streets includes 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Streets between East Avenue and Railway Avenue, worth $364,700, along with Fifth Avenue S.E. from Fourth Street to Confederation Drive, worth $50,900.

The street recapping projects include: Ash Drive, from Windsor to Duke Streets; Coteau Avenue, from 14th to 16th Streets; 11th Street from East to Souris Avenue; Fourth Street from Prairie to First Avenue; Coteau Avenue from Harvey Bay to 18th Street; Ninth Street, from East to Souris Avenue; 12th Street from East to Souris Avenue; Sixth Street, from Prairie to First Avenue; and Souris Avenue, from Eighth to 12th Street; in addition is the north-south lane east of 18th Street, from Coteau to Eaglesham Avenue. The recapping is worth a total of $344,000, and the lane project is worth $17,200.

The water-main replacement, which has been petitioned out before, is on Fourth Street S.E. from Sixth to Eighth Avenue, worth a total of $138,000.

City engineer Blaine Frank said if any of these projects are petitioned out by local property owners, the project can't return for two years.

"Look at your street before you petition out. If you keep doing that year after year, we'll be back to gravel roads, and I don't think you want that," said Coun. Stephanson.

City manager Smith said there is a little-used avenue open to the city if a project is continually refused, such as for paving the gravelled streets; he said council can apply the project directly to the Local Municipal Board, and they can decide if the project should go ahead or not.