B LEANING C CO O--OP OP BEAVER EAVER C COUNTY OUNTY SEED CLEANING For Sale: Common Seed Oats, Closed June 24th – August 26th Look forward to seeing in the fall! Pony Oats andyou Barley
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A Free Weekly Publication Serving All of Beaver County Wednesday,February June 29,16 2022, Volume 15,15 Issue 26 7 Wednesday 2022 Volume Issue
County looks into grants, taxes in response to landowners near landfill Patricia Harcourt A landowner living near the Claystone Waste landfill says he wants the county to share the grants from that facility more fairly and/or reduce the taxes for those who are living near its negative impacts. Kevin McCoy spoke to council June 1, telling councillors he felt the people living around the landfill aren’t getting their just recompense for have to live with the noise, smells and other nuisances. McCoy said no other taxpayers must live next to a landfill and asked the county to give the adjacent landowners more grant funding or apply fewer taxes to them. Margaret Jones, manager of legislative services, gave a report to the Governance and Priorities Committee (GPC) which is looking into these issues on behalf of council. Information was provided on the distribution of the Claystone Waste grants, which used to be called Beaver Municipal Solutions. This includes the Good Neighbour Grant, Grant in Lieu of Taxes and dividends from Claystone. Information also included the distribution of revenue around the region as well as the amount kept by the county for its own projects since 2013. Jones noted that “the Claystone Waste dividend has been instrumental in the county’s ability to assist its regional partners with shared projects and advance its own initiatives.” These three sources of funding are also not to be used to fund the county’s general operations or recurring expenses. A minimum of 50% of the dividend is to be used to fund the county’s strategic priorities, rural capacity building projects, economic development initiatives, or other projects that enhance the quality of life in the county. Plus, 25% of the dividend goes towards regional strategic priorities, joint development projects with regional neighbours or partners or regional sustainability initiatives. A further 25% can be used to fund applications under the Community
Support Requests Policy, and is equally dived between operating and capital costs. The Good Neighbour Grant is used to fund the monthly tipping fees for rural residential waste collection bins in the waste bin benefit area, which are those living within a certain radius of the landfill. And Grant in Lieu of Taxes funds special projects or is disbursed in a way similar to the dividend. All three can be carried over if unused funds are for a specific project at council’s discretion. In discussion, Deputy Reeve Gene Hrabec (Division 3) stated he has heard nothing from ratepayers living near the landfill concerning any projects they might have to suggest, in terms of reducing the perceived inequity of distribution of these funds. Reeve Kevin Smook (Division 1) noted that the offer by the county to receive such suggestions was included in a Chronicle article. Smook wondered if the landowners preferred a more formal request for suggestions be made to them. Councillor Barry Bruce (Division 4) said he has since spoken with McCoy. “The point he was trying to make is that the money from Claystone is going to the towns and organizations,” he said. “But the area farmers are left out, and don’t know what to ask for… Just because they live outside the towns and villages they are being left out.” The statistics provided by administration showed that the county gets 78% of Claystone grant distribution, or $6,522,238. Tofield gets 9% ($748,960), Ryley gets 2% ($152,078), Holden gets 3% (($292,490), Viking gets 2% ($151,318), and regional gets 3% ($235,067). Rural areas are given 3%, or $250,928. The total funds in grants is $8,389,555 (100%). “It’s evident by the information that the county gets upwards of 78%,” said Hrabec, adding: “We should treat everybody equally (although) it shows Beaver County is willing to share with the towns and villages,” as 22% of the grants go to them.
“I think it’s a fair number and I don’t know if we can tighten it up anymore than that,” he said. Smook agreed that “it’s hard to measure,” but added that he believes taxes are lower “because of the Claystone dividends…We are getting the benefit.” Smook said the county “is moving forward with some initiatives due to Claystone and if we didn’t have the dividend it could mean taxes would go up.” He noted that waste collection in the county costs ratepayers one-third less than what people pay in other jurisdictions, “so all are benefiting.” Smook also said that “the door is always open for suggestions,” on how to spend the Good Neighbour Grant. Upon a question from Bruce, Jones said the information provided to the committee would be forwarded to
McCoy “once council has seen it.” However, the committee also looked at the assessment and tax base policy for the county, to look into McCoy’s request for taxes to be lowered on land around the landfill. Jones started by saying that farmland and farm houses are assessed differently and by different authorities: “Farmland in the county, regardless of location, is assessed based on regulated agricultural use value, or its productivity value,” she said. While, “farmhouses, including a residential three-acre site, are assessed at market value.” This market value is calculated by looking at the sales for similar sites in the area. Jones said that, for the land and residences adjacent or near the Claystone landfill, they are “at or above the assessed values” based on recent sales. Continued on BCC2
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