|
 |
Contents |
|
|
|
2006/4/28
If you’re in shock over this year’s proposed municipal tax hike, what’s petrifying city council is you ain’t seen nothing yet.
What’s scaring them is the apparent success of a lengthy lobbying effort by major industries to get the province to step in and force municipalities to reduce the amount of tax money they take from them.
Two weeks ago today the BC Competition Council endorsed the recommendations of its Pulp and Paper Industry Advisory Committee which, amongst other things, called for “a 50 per cent reduction in average major industry property taxes”.
Granted, the committee was looking only at the forestry sector, but you can be sure what’s good for that goose will be good for all the other industrial ganders.
And provincial forest minister Rich Coleman joined the chorus when addressing the annual convention of the Council of Forest Industries, citing the report and accusing municipalities of “dining out” on industry.
That last seems to clearly indicate the province is going to give industry what it wants.
The city fears the result will be capping the industrial tax at 50 per cent of the total. Which means what for you and I, Kitimat residential taxpayers?
The city needed an extra $1 million this year to maintain the level of services to which we have all become accustomed plus carry out urgently needed and overdue infrastructure work.
Traditionally, industry has picked up roughly 80 per cent of the tab here.
Which means the rest of us would only have to find the remaining $200,000 - equal to an extra $45 on our taxes.
But if that hike had to be split 50:50, as council fears will become the case, we’d be looking at a hike of about $112.
And we’re only talking about the extra $1 million. Just imagine the result if that split scenario was extended to the tax total of more than $15 million. (I’d do the math now, but I don’t need the nightmares)
Another example. The community, through referendum, voted in favour of borrowing $6 million for the pool project. But that was on the basis of having to themselves pay only $1.2 million (plus interest) of that figure. Under the feared formula, that leaps to $3 million.
So if council has the intestinal fortitude to stick to its guns on the proposed tax hike, don’t be too hard on them.
There will come a day when we’ll look back on this year’s tax bill with a sense of longing.
Malcolm Baxter |
| Source:http://www.northernsentinel.com |
|
|
