City Council has said Nay to a PG Horse Society request.
In early November, the group asked the city to foot its utility bill for the next three years, pointing to a rate hike as the main cause.
“For our utilities right now we’re paying 3,800 dollars a month.” said Horse Society President Melanie Forster. “If you turn back the clock five years we were just around the 2,000 dollar mark.”
While sympathetic to the cause, the request was unanimously shot down.
“Simple elimination of utility fees provides no incentive to reduce utility costs, it’s not a sustainable financing program.” says Councillor Jillian Merrick. “If anything, I’d like to see us focus on improving the building so that utility costs are reduced from a efficiency perspective, rather than a granting perspective.”
Director of Finance Kris Dalio says the City allows $1.4 million in permissive tax exemptions to nearly 100 different groups in PG.