Enquiry Highlights Increasing Hidden Costs To Property Taxpayers

The growing burden on property taxpayers ended off last Tuesday evening’s regular Council meeting.

In an answer to his annual enquiry to Administration about the amount of funds collected by the City in way of property taxes, water rates, sewer rates, solid waste and recycling fees Councillor Brian Swanson once again highlighted the rising costs to property owners.

“I asked those as those are the various ways the City collects off of the various property tax base,” Councillor Swanson said.

“From the year 2013 to 2019 in six years municipal taxation went from $20,572,000 to $29,400,000 an increase of 43 percent over six years. But it is a bit misleading because in the years 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 garbage collection the cost of that was borne on your property tax. Beginning in 2017 there was a charge added to property tax owners water bill so that in 2019 what had previously been collected in general revenues from taxes generated $1,246,000 for garbage collection,” Councillor Swanson said.

Charging fees for garbage should be added to the cost to property taxpayers.

“When you add the municipal taxation and the garbage collection together you find over the six years the increase was 49 percent,” he said.

The spectre of growing water and sewer rates - used for major infrastructure upgrades such as cast iron water main replacement, sewer main relining and the City’s share of upgrades at the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant - added more to property taxpayer burdens.

“Water rates in 2013 collected revenue of $5.3 million pardon me $6.5 million in 2019 $11,000,000 an increase of 69 percent …Sewer charges in 2013 were $5.3 million in 2019 $7.7 million an increase of 44 percent,” he said, adding “When you add up the total collection off of the property tax base in 2013 it was $32.5 million in 2019 it was $50,400,000 an increase of 55 percent over six years. And one must add the significant debt that was taken on in that time in which we saw very little assessment growth and little to no population growth.”

The issue of charging a monthly fee for services which were previously paid for out of general revenues or property taxes was a hot button issue when the fees were first introduced with Councillors Swanson and Don Mitchell opposed to them.

At the time Councillor Swanson termed them to be a means to hide taxation increases.

While former Councillor Mitchell saw them as a means to create a tax shift whereby residents living in poorer and lower assessed homes paid proportionally more to the City while those living in higher assessed homes and more able to pay higher property taxes had their tax burden drop. He called the then proposed 15 percent increase in water rates actually a 15 percent ta increase for lower assessed homes.

The water fees figured heavily in Council discussions setting the final property mill rate in the 2018 budget deliberations with Council meeting in-camera to discuss the final property tax and water fees. At the time Council justified the moves because the conversation entailed the potential of job cuts and Council did not want to stress out personnel with the spectre of potential job cuts.

Councillor Dawn Luhning spoke out against reasoning for the March 8, 2020 in-camera meeting because it dealt with the budget in a way which was neither transparent nor accountable.

SEE ALSO - Tax Sharing