Kelowna residents have 8 weeks to decide on borrowing millions for Parkinson Rec rebuild

Kelowna residents opposed to the city borrowing $241.3 million to spend on recreation facilities, including the rebuild of the Parkinson Rec Centre, have until Sept. 15 to have their say.

Called the alternative approval process, the city can go ahead and borrow the money unless more than 10% of voters (12,160 people) file petitions with the city saying they are opposed to the plan.

Most of the money will be spent on rebuilding Parkinson Recreation Centre but some will go towards building the Glenmore Activity Centre, the Mission Activity Centre and the redevelopment of the Rutland Sportsfields.

The full cost of the projects will be $287.5 million with $241.32 million borrowed over 30 years.

READ MORE: Kelowna wants to spend nearly $300M on recreation facilities including Parkinson rebuild

The rest of the money will come from things like grants and reserve funds.

If approved it will add to property taxes each year for five years with the maximum increase being about $34. The city has said that over that time frame overall tax increases will be less than 5% per year.

The petition form will be available at City Hall and Parkinson Recreation Centre. If other locations are added, they will be listed on the Kelowna.ca website. The deadline is 4 p.m. Sept. 15.

The petition can also be accessed online here.

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