Editor
Re: Forget becoming a city and look at separating, letter to the editor, Feb. 10
It doesn't take much looking to realize that separating from Delta is an extremely bad idea.
Greg Hoover correctly states that North Delta and South Delta residents have many different interests, but they share an overwhelming one that he overlooks -property taxes. Someone must pay the cost of local government.
Delta's 2016 general residential property tax rate is 3.0163 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Surrey's is only 2.26262! Now ask yourselves: What would North Delta do if South Delta were to separate? Their major amenities and services are in Surrey, and property tax rates there are vastly less. Seems a no-brainer. North Delta would join Surrey... and take most of Delta's high-tax-rate paying industries with them.
South Delta residents would be stuck trying desperately to downsize Delta's municipal government, which we would inherit because North Delta would have no further use for it. Sure, we'll have all those farms to compensate for the loss of industry, but farm taxes are miniscule compared to those paid by the industries that would leave with North Delta.
It seems to me our South Delta residential property taxes, needed to fund a difficult-todownscale Delta government, and lacking most of our industrial tax support, could easily be two or three times what we're now paying. Separation seems a very bad idea indeed.
Ed Ries
