Have a heart and win a home Foothills Community
Centre home lotto
By Cindy Ballance
Editor
The Foothills Community Centre has the best odds of any lottery going right now
and what's even better is the fact that everyone wins.
With only six weeks left to buy tickets for this exciting home lotto, the time is
now to get in on the 38 prizes available and be a part of helping to build a centre
for everyone.
The grand prize is a beautiful fully furnished four-bedroom Riviera home valued at
$240,000 and located at 81 Westridge Drive in Okotoks.
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The last chance to buy tickets for the home lotto is fast approaching. Ticket sales will continue until midnight on May 28 for the early bird draw on May 31.
Regular ticket sales will continue until midnight on June 15 with the final draw to take place on June 17.
So far about 1,200 tickets have been sold for the lottery, however, 6,500 are available.
Foothills Community Centre Foundation president Sheila McKinlay explained that purchasing a ticket for the home lottery not only gives you a chance to win some great prizes, it will also help to continue construction on the much-needed community centre.
Following a plebiscite, in which the residents of Okotoks voted against helping to pay for the completion of the community centre through a tax increase, the foundation requested an advance of funds from the Town of Okotoks in order to close up the facility until enough money was raised to commence construction.
Through extensive fund-raising pursuits the foundation has been successful in raising some of the money needed to pay back the town. And now, thanks to an anonymous donation of the grand prize showhome, the foundation is hoping the home lotto proceeds will be enough to repay the outstanding funds owed to the town.
In order to commence construction, the foundation must first pay back the town the outstanding balance of $275,000 from a $400,000 advance.
So far the seniors of the community have raised enough money to complete their portion of the centre and have also successfully assisted in raising funds for the youth portion.
'The money is in place -- we could do the seniors and youth (portions at the centre right now),' said McKinlay.
However, until the loan is paid back to the town, those portions of the centre cannot commence. Hence, the importance of the home lottery.
'If we sell out the home lotto we will generate enough money to pay back the town and mobilize the money being held to complete the seniors and youth centre,' said McKinlay.
'If we don't sell out we will not be able to pay back our obligation to the town, at least not right now,' she added.
'I wish I could say this (the home lotto proceeds) was going to open the whole centre, but that is not going to happen.'
It is expected that the centre will cost approximately $3 million to complete.
So far the foundation has mailed out thousands of ticket forms to residents in Okotoks, southeast and southwest Calgary and the MD of Foothills.
McKinlay said those who purchase a ticket will be a part of the heart of the community and will help start that heart pumping.
'This building is for everyone, their children are going to use it, they are going to use it, the seniors are going to use it -- it is going to be the heart of the community,' said McKinlay.
Tickets are available by phone at 938-1448 or by calling Sheila McKinlay at 938-4190. You can fax your ticket request to 938-3229 or you can mail the ticket request form to PO Box 1196 Okotoks, AB T0L 1T0. Make cheques payable to the Foothills Community Centre Foundation.
Ticket request forms are also available to be picked up and dropped off at the Western Wheel.
You can't win if you don't have a ticket.
Air Time
Keith Duncan gets some air as he was one
of the first to take a spin on the new Okotoks Skate/Board Park on Saturday. The
park will officially open at the end of May.
photo by John Barlow
Okotoks residents tax rate to drop by five per cent
By Cindy Ballance
Editor
Residents of Okotoks will soon see some good news on their tax bill this year
after council unanimously decided to cut the municipal portion of the tax rate by
five per cent.
For the year 2000, taxes payable on a typical residential dwelling will drop by about
$30.
In 1999 Okotoks grew at a breathtaking rate of eight per cent, approximately three
times the growth rate of Calgary.
Due to this rapid development, market values of residential properties skyrocketed
almost five per cent over last year.
To alleviate the potential effect of market value growth on taxes payable, municipal
tax rates (municipal and recapitalization rates combined) will fall by five per cent,
while the overall tax rate tumbles by 6.3 per cent.
Okotoks council attempted in its budget projections to offset market value increases
by decreasing the municipal tax rate by five per cent, explained municipal manager
Will Pearce.
The increase to market values in Okotoks is also an indication of a desire of people
to live and reside in Okotoks, explained Pearce.
'Increases in property values are clearly a reflection of the market demand,' he
said.
For example a typical residential property valued at $125,000 in 1996 is valued at
about $162,000 in 2000.
Although a typical residential property has seen the value of the home go up by about
30 per cent, the taxes payable have remained the same (about a $12 increase), said
Pearce.
'There has been no change in the municipal tax rate even though property values have
gone up, ' he said.
Although market values, due to excessive growth, have increased 8.7 per cent from
1997 to 2000, municipal taxes rose less than 3.8 per cent and total taxes rose only
0.2 per cent per year which equates to about $4.07 per year.
However, in order to alleviate the market pressures felt by Okotoks residents, Okotoks
council was directed by the Finance and Budget Committee to decrease the tax rate.
Although it is estimated that Okotoks residents will save $30 per year, individual
taxes payable will vary based on individual market value growth or decline.
The decrease in the total portion of taxes by 6.3 per cent was also due to a five
per cent cap placed by Alberta Education on the school requisition.
'In part because of that self-imposed cap across the province, the school requisition
for the Town of Okotoks actually dropped,' said Pearce.
Pearce added that most of the requisitioning bodies on the tax bill have decreased
their portion in 2000.
'Each partner on that bill has done well with the management of those public dollars,'
he said. 'Everyone has benefitted in stability (of the tax rate) and in many cases
a modest reduction.'
Council was pleased with the recommendation to lower the tax rate while still continuing
to meet the recapitalization needs of the town's infrastructure and increasing commitments
to public safety through police, fire and emergency medical services.
'The tax rate satisfactorily gathers the funds needed to manage the budget approved
by council for 2000,' said Councillor Ed Sands.
'Council has been very slowly and carefully putting more money aside to rebuild our
infrastructure,' added Pearce. 'This is a very responsible approach to putting money
aside to start protecting our community-wide assets.'
