 
                    The Downtown Kelowna Association clean team in action.
                    
                    (JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)
                 
             
            
            
                March 08, 2016 - 2:30 PM
            
            
                
            
            
            
            
	KELOWNA - Downtown property owners will continue to pay a higher levy this year as the business improvement area continues its beefed-up cleaning and security program.
	Owners of Class 5 and 6 properties in the improvement area will pay a levy of $1.50 for every $1,000 of assessed value, allowing the Downtown Kelowna Association to spend $828,000 this year.
	Last year the association spent $804,000, up from $781,000 in 2014, to bolster its popular clean team program.
	The team operates two ATVs equipped with a pressure washers, leaf blowers and industrial strength vacuums, sending them on clean-up calls throughout the improvement area.
	The association has budgeted $110,000 this year for the clean team and will spend $216,000 on the downtown on-call security program.
	Council had no questions of Downtown Kelowna Association executive director Peggy Athans before approving the levy this week.
	To contact a reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
            
            
                News from © iNFOnews, 2016