After weeks without any formal opposition, the YES Committee, in support of the proposed performing arts centre, has a rival.
The PAC Not Yet Committee has officially been formed, headed by Nelly Dever, former city councillor and owner of Nelly’s Executive Fitness.
She says the group was formed by citizen’s who are concerned with the cost of the centre and also wanted to provide insight into both sides of the debate.
“A lot of people are really concerned about the increase in taxes, the public debt and believe more can be done to minimize costs of this project,” said Dever. “This isn’t about supporting ‘the arts’ or not. This is about a massive publicly funded project that will result in long term increases in taxes for everyone in Kamloops.”
Kamloops will vote in a referendum on November 7th to decide whether the city should borrow the $49 million needed for the construction of the parkade for the centre. Once completed the centre is expected to cost just over $90 million.
The city estimates the average household in Kamloops would see their taxes increase by approximately $40 per year for 20 years to cover the project’s cost.
In a release, the PAC Not Yet Committee stated there is a lack of funding from the private sector and other levels of government, and raised concerns about the use of substantial Gaming and Gas Tax Reserves, that they say could be better used for community needs and disaster mitigation.
Mayor Peter Milobar has been an active member of the YES Committee since it began and has previously said many projects in the city have been met with similar opposition.
“I would challenge them to take a good hard look at the projects in Kamloops that have, at the time, thought of to be too large or too aggressive for our community at the time. From the Sagebrush Theatre, to the Sandman Centre, to Tournament Capital project, you name it those projects all had similar sentiment from the community,” said Milobar.
Dever adds there are too many lingering questions surrounding the centre’s construction and cost to move forward with the project.
“We are not saying no to a future performing arts centre, we’re saying this project needs to be improved upon. There are too many unanswered questions for taxpayers to support this project.”
