Former Mayor Jim Ogilvie used to say that government moves slowly at times and if a municipality wants something they simply have to keep bringing the same massage back to the upper levels of government.

Such is the case with the City of Kimberley's position on brownfield site taxation. The attempt to change the provincial government's position on these sites goes well back into Ogilvie's administration and will now continue with Mayor Ron McRae.

Brownfield sites in Kimberley include the tailings ponds and the old mine site. In the provincial government's opinion these lands have no taxable value. By 2013 they will have zero taxable value to the City of Kimberley.

It's the City's position that these lands must have some kind of value.

A resolution asking the government to change their stance on brownfield sites was taken to the Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments meeting last year and was approved and sent forward to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities.

Unfortunately, Kimberley's resolution was amended at the UBCM.

"When they amended it, it changed the whole concept of the resolution," Coun. Kent Goodwin reported last week. "We think we should take it back to the AKBLG. There should be a taxable value to those properties."

The AKBLG meets in Trail April 19 to 21, 2012 for their Annual General Meeting. Any resolution going forward to the UBCM must begin at that meeting.