Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 19, 1996, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free March a3 error May hit million by Treena Khan City Hall reporter three outstanding assessment appeals could add another million to the cites assess ment officials appeals by Centra in rail and up rail Are to be heard by the Manitoba municipal Board this the three Are challenging the cites assessments of personal properties Centra Gass pipelines throughout the and railway right of ways and surplus lands in the while City Council approved a plan yesterday to cover the million from Utility Billings and chief commissioner Rick Frost admitted the three appeals we rent included in the Best estimates because the City Doest expect to we won both at the Board of Frost if we lost the exposure would be but that the worst Case lawyers Mike Mercury and Ross Nugent say the City should it take too much Comfort in the Board of revision Mercury and Nugent have successfully appealed City assess ments on some of the most valuable commercial properties in recent who will represent Centra Gas at the municipal Board hearing next said going to the cites Board of Revi Sion was simply a the Board simply dismissed the Appeal in order for us to get to the municipal there was no evidence he Centra Gas is appealing the assessments on Kilometres of underground pipe assessed at in the pipes were assessed at million in but Centra contends it should be for a tax refund of million to million each year for and on the million it pays in property taxes in the the argument is Market value versus replace ment said Mack of Centra Gas a firm hired by Centra determined the Market value to be less than replacement Cost the basis of the City he importance downplayed continued from a1 chief commissioner Rick Frost Down played the importance of the Cama which he said the assessment department has been working on since its Only one we can do assessments without Frost the Cama system has been touted for its accuracy in determining Market value assessment because it incorporates actual property sales Over a three year time period and then matches those data to similar prop erties that have not the system also calculates How local physical factors can increase or devalue a property the 1996 capital estimates documents describe the Cama system As vital to the required triennial reassessments and the effective functioning of the assessment and tax Frost said the assessment department can use the existing Many peo ple have blamed for the cites problems with we have an old Tern weve been Frost Well retool it and bring it Back up to As an alternative to the Cama the City has been criticized for refusing to adopt True Market value assessment tech it relied on Ai formula that incorporated replacement costs plus other including the average1 sales Price increase for similar the result has been a flood of property assessment appeals since 1990 that is expected to Cost the City at least million Over the six year knowing that its current methods of assessment were top City officials have spent the past two years trying to pre dict the losses through assessment their last Best estimate was out by More than Al Golden said it May be that the Cama system has been put on hold because former City assessor Bob Brown truly understood How it Golden vital said it was Brown who convinced Council in 1994 that it should spend the Money for adding that without him there May not be anyone in the depart ment capable of implementing the Brown resigned two weeks ago at the request of when the Short fall became Golden said the assessment department May feel confident proceeding with the 1997 reassessment because the Large number of successful appeals since 1990 has corrected Many of the departments original but he added that the City will miss out on millions of dollars in property taxes if it continues with the old system because the assessment department will never uncover the estimated commercial and residential properties that Are Golden added that if the department continues operating without a proper Market value property owners who Haven appealed May now decide to do and that could Cost the City millions of dollars More next Thompson to control inquiry by Aldo Santin City Hall reporter mayor Susan Thompson has secured control of the inquiry process into the assess ment debacle at City City Council yesterday approved a plan that will see Thompson and members of her executive com Mittee hire the individual to Lead the set its budget and decide How much of the final report should be released to the the purpose of the inquiry is to get information to our citizens and to find out what went wrong and Correct Thompson said following councils this is just a question of the management of the Thompson said she Hopes the inquiry will get under Way in two adding Shes reviewing a list of possible Thompson said she has no idea what the inquiry budget will Thompson got a bumpy ride yesterday from councillors who Felt she want prepare to give the inquiry officer enough Power to do the Thompson finally relented to an amendment from John Angus Norbert and Garth Steek River Heights who insisted the inquiry officer operate under the authority of the Manitoba Evi Dence Angus said he wanted the inquiry officer to be Able to swear in witnesses and hold them account Able for refusing to cooperate or not telling the Thompsons plan was to rely on the Goodwill and cooperation of City Council also approved a plan that would see the anticipated assessment shortfall Cov ered by transferring million from a series of Reserve accounts and million from Utility Rev Harry Lazarenko Mynarski had argued the Only Way to ensure the Independence of an inquiry was to have it appointed by the province and have the final report presented to the minister of Urban Lazarenko said the inquiry officer will be suspect because the Job will require questioning the very people who hired him and to whom he must pre sent a final Lillian Thomas Elmwood also failed in her bid to remove Thompsons control Over the Thomas said Council should make the key Deci including appointing the inquiry officer and accepting the final adding it was wrong for Thompson and the executive committee to assume that Thompson said its possible that portions of the report May not be made Public because of confidentiality adding however that All councillors will eventually receive a copy of the entire Thompson said she had considered an inquiry appointed by the province but rejected it because it might prove Long and costly and because Premier Gary Filmon told her he didst support that Fra reopens the debate on tobacco regulations continued from a1 Fra commissioner David Kessler yesterday would not com ment about whether the affidavits move his Agency closer to that but the Fra took the unusual measure of reopening the docket for Public comment on its proposed tobacco in a Kessler said Only that this is information we believe the Public should the documents could also have an effect in other litigation facing the tobacco said Richard a Mississippi attorney who is advising that state and oth ers in their suits against the Indus try to recoup medicaid expenses for tobacco related Uydess received a subpoena yesterday in Mississippi and agreed to testify in the states those and the Large class action lawsuit filed in new could turn on questions of what the Industry knew about nicotine and its the three affidavits go into great detail about the company research into the pharmacological characteristics of Fra officials said yesterday the statements were Given voluntary tobacco companies like Philip Morris Learned a Long time ago that it was hard to get people to stay with a Good tasting product if the nicotine level was too said a microbiologist who worked on product the third affidavit said the comr Pany Micro adjusted nicotine lev Els in its product by repeatedly testing for nicotine and controlling the blending former ceo Campbell told Wax mans subcommittee in 1994 that the company checks nicotine Levels before the tobaccos Are blended and at the end of the but not during but Jerome who served As a shift Man Ager at a Plant where the company made a reconstituted tobacco product known As blended detailed a sophisticated system for monitoring those Levels at several Steps of the checking lev often As Home care concerns activist by Alexandra Paul medical reporter Marc free press Ducharme visited the legislative building to see Mccrae and Filmon about Home neither was disabled activist Theresa Ducharme was at health minister Jim Mccrae office door saying a weekend experience with a private nursing service left her worried about Home care under pending when one of Ducharms Reg ular government Home care nurses make her sunday a nurse from a private Central health was in on a life support system but she came with no knowledge of my my needs or what her duties would Ducharme Ducharme said the private nurse said she is never informed ahead of time of the condition of her Manitoba is putting its lion year Home care which employs nurses and attendants up for bids contracting the work out to private and nonprofit nursing Central is one of the four companies the province named As potential Home care provides Ducharme with nursing care 16 hours a seven Days a week to cover her life support system and medication the province signed a contract with Central a year ago for Emer gency backup Central health nursing super visor Sheila Kennedy said it had been assumed Ducharme would instruct the nurse on her partic ular ventilator weve been around for 10 years and we have 300 if we didst do a Good we be Kennedy water problems rubber footwear Over 5ooo pair in Stock Many styles available mens women childrens 9436429 Canadian footwear 128 Adelaide at William pre arrangements we offer Superior service at m affordable Cost Central location Blaitt Ifill a Lapel reception facility 1 rearrangements funeral 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