Email To: Michel Bourassa
Request for Saturna Parks and Recreation Commission Budgets from 2006-07 to 2009-10

Hi Michel,

I am writing you in your capacity as the Chair of the Saturna Parks & Rec Commission. The Saturna Island Property Owners Association has done a comparative analysis of Saturna tax assessments and taxes paid by Saturna property owners for the years 2006 and 2009, to give us a better understanding of what we are receiving in government services. This review shows that the Saturna Parks & Rec Commission's portion of those taxes has risen 70% since 2006. This amounts to nearly three times the rate of increase in overall taxes for Saturna property owners. We are keen to find out why the Saturna Parks & Rec Commission portion of our taxes has gone up so steeply.

The Saturna Parks & Rec Commission receives and spends public tax funds through the CRD and its financial statements and budgets should be available to Saturna taxpayers for public scrutiny. Yet those budgets and financial satements are not posted anywhere, as far as I am aware. Other taxing authorities, such as the Islands Trust and the Saturna Island Fire Protection Society make their budget breakdowns readily available.

We ask that you give us access to budget breakdowns for the years from 2006-07 to 2009-10, to allow us to ascertain where and how these tax increases were allocated and how they benefited Saturna.

Thank you.

Bernie Ziegler

President

SIPOA