Penticton subsidizing profit-centered sports
DEAR EDITOR:
Penticton property owners face the possibility of a 9.7% tax hike. Substantial expenditures in 2023 could include additional firefighters and RCMP staff, the costs for which clearly fit the new Council’s crime reduction and public safety election promises.
However, given the $8.1 million rise in the City’s operating expenses since the 2022 budget was passed, one wonders what items will be subject to cutting or trimming to keep expenditures in check.
As a starting point, the City could undertake a review of the extent of taxpayer funds spent annually to support the private sector’s sports events, tournaments, teams, and additionally their sports related business leaseholders at the South Okanagan Events Centre campus.
(Penticton’s last property tax billing showed the SOEC, which was pitched as a financially sustainable project, receiving more 2022 public tax dollars than the Library/Museum complex or the city’s transit system.)
Looking at the 2019 vote to reinstate the Ironman event, one notes large subsidies granted to Ironman by the City, despite the $247,000 per year average salaries of Ironman participants. It seems these individuals, who love the race and enjoy the free support of our city’s volunteers, could well afford user-pay participation costs rather than adding to the tax bill of Penticton families.
And then there’s our beloved Vees, who recently signed a six-year contract with the City. Unlike the contracts for private operators chosen for the Skaha Marina, which were reported to the public, financial details of the Vees arrangement remain secret.
A stated reason was that the Vees operate on a slim margin, but so does every non-profit society that must open its books to the City in order to qualify for taxpayer subsidies.
The City should clearly identify the amount that taxpayers in Penticton’s relatively low-wage economy shell out each year to subsidize profit-centered sports. It’s particularly important at a time when many Penticton families face financial struggles.
I trust Penticton’s new Council will address the above concerns and insist on full disclosure to the taxpaying public.
Loraine Stephanson
Penticton