Estevan Mercury - October 3, 2012

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Candidate Q&A: Roy Ludwig

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Hands Up For Terry Students from Westview School enjoyed an afternoon in the sunshine after they walked to Churchill Park and engaged in a friendly competition with their counterparts from Hillcrest School, who had also made their way to the park for the afternoon of interactive games while raising funds for the Terry Fox Foundation.

See page A17 - 20

October 3, 2012

⇢ A4

Supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month

WEDNESDAY

Turner Retires After 50 Years

www.estevanmercury.ca

⇢ Inside

Issue 22

Elecs Comeback Fall Short

⇢ B1 Fire Prevention Week

⇢ B6 - 9

Major project in store for Northgate? By Norm Park of The Mercury They’ve gobbled up the hamlet of Northgate and a large section of nearby land, including property on the North Dakota side of the community and now Ceres Global Ag Corp. management personnel are in the analysis mode regarding the future development on that land according to their chief financial officer. Corus Land Holdings, an affiliate of Ceres, a pub-

licly traded company that owns grain handling facilities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Ontario, Wisconsin, Wyoming and New York, recently completed the purchase of 168 townsite lots (approximately 60 acres) in the hamlet of Northgate at a cost of just over $118,000 and some nearby agricultural lands. John Gould, the CFO for Ceres and the company spokesman, did not say what the land would be used for, but with Corus and Ceres be-

ing affiliated with Riverland Ag Corp., a Minneapolisbased grain storage and marketing business with facilities in the U.S. and Canada, the speculation of a major grain-handling facility being constructed on the site is running rampant. With nearby railroad tracks available and a former modest grain car loading facility already in place, the rumours appear to be leaning toward a facility that would accommodate the sale and transportation

of Saskatchewan grains to an American storage and/or processing facility now that an unrestricted grain market exists in Canada with the demise of the former Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk monopoly. An RM of Enniskillen administration official confirmed the purchase of the land on the Canadian side had been made and completed and Gould noted that land on the North Dakota side of Northgate was also purchased.

Gould confirmed the Toronto-based development company had received approval for the purchase from the Saskatchewan Farmland Security Board. This is necessary for anyone from outside the province wishing to purchase more than 10 acres of farmland in Saskatchewan. A Richardson Pioneer elevator is located in Northgate but it has been sitting unused for several years, while a General Mills Major ⇢A2

Estevan remains among fairest tax jurisdictions Scan with your smartphone to visit The Mercury’s mobile website

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WEATHER & INDEX

The City of Estevan is continuing to make strides toward becoming one of the fairest tax jurisdictions in the province. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business released its annual tax fairness report last week and it said that among Saskatchewan cities, Estevan has the seventh best ratio between commercial taxes and residential taxes. Using figures from 2011, the report said Estevan businesses paid $3,416 in taxes on an assessed valuation of $200,000. Mean-

while, a homeowner with a residence also assessed at $200,000 pays $1,523 in taxes for a ratio of 2.24. That is down slightly from 2010 when Estevan had a ratio of 2.27. Overall, the CFIB report decried the fact that very little progress has been made throughout the province on improving fairness and four cities had their gap worsen. It added that on average, small business owners paid 2.18 times the municipal property taxes of residential property owners. “Unfortunately, for

small business owners the vast majority of Saskatchewan municipalities saw their municipal tax gaps

either worsen or stay the same in 2011,� said Marilyn Braun-Pollon, CFIB’s vicepresident, Prairie and Agribusiness. “It is troubling that

only 26 of the 63 municipalities modestly improved their municipal tax gap in 2011. Small business owners continue to get the short end of the property tax stick.� Estevan city manager Jim Puffalt said he is happy to see the gap continue to shrink in the Energy City. “Back in 2002, council made a commitment to do something about the high property tax ratio and we went from the highest to the middle of the pack,� Puffalt said. “We are quite enthused with that and glad that it is being recognized.�

Yorkton had the worst ratio among the 14 cities at 3.79 while Weyburn was second worst with a ratio of 3.47. North Battleford is third worst at 3.32 and Melville, which has the highest commercial and residential taxes according to the report, has the fourth worst ratio at 3.18. The best ratio belongs to one of Saskatchewan’s newest cities, Martensville which sat at 1.57 in 2011. Saskatoon has the second best ratio at 1.78 while Regina, Moose Jaw and Melfort followed. Yorkton ⇢A2

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