CFIB Calls For No Municipal Property Tax Increases For 2021

With the province set to provide record revenue sharing a business lobby group thinks municipalities have an opportunity to keep some gold in the hands of ratepayers and not increase property taxes in 2021.

In a news release the Canadian Federation Of Independent Business (CFIB) said 84 percent of the small business respondents to a survey by the group said municipal property taxes impacted negatively on their businesses.

At last week’s Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) convention Premier Scott Moe announced that municipal revenue sharing for Saskatchewan municipalities will increase to a record $278 million in 2020-2021. It is unknown what sort dollar figure increase - if any - the move will mean for the City of Moose Jaw at this time.

In their latest released quarterly report, dated December 31, 2019, figures released show a year over year increase in property tax arrears owing to the City of Moose Jaw.

The Government of Saskatchewan’s municipal revenue sharing program is based on three quarters of one point of the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) revenue collected from the fiscal year two years prior to the current year. It needs to be noted the provincial government increased and expanded the PST to include such things as used cars, construction and restaurant meals as part of their austeritly budget.

“We recognize the importance of stable, predictable revenue sharing for municipalities, but this shouldn't automatically translate into annual property tax hikes,” Jennifer Henshaw, CFIB’s Senior Policy Analyst, Prairies said in a statement. “Given that small business owners are already dealing with a number of cost pressures, we need municipal leaders to commit to holding the line on property taxes to give Saskatchewan’s job creators some certainty and much-needed relief.”

 The announcement of the $278 million in funding (a nearly 11 percent or $27 million) in the hands of municipalities over next fiscal year is an opportunity for municipalities to pass onto ratepayers the CFIB says.

“We know some municipalities are doing a better job than others. For example, in 2019 and 2020 the City of Estevan did not increase their property taxes. Other municipalities should follow their lead,” Henshaw said in the statement. “With Saskatchewan’s entrepreneurs already facing a number of significant challenges, they simply cannot afford to continue bearing the brunt of annual property tax hikes. As one business owner told us: ‘Municipalities need to control their spending and do more with less’.

 The CFIB asked municipalities to consider adopting the following recommendations to avoid future property tax hikes:

Ø  Continue to find cost-savings and internal efficiencies by reviewing current programs and services with the objective of identifying programs and service areas that can be eliminated, streamlined, contracted out to the private sector, or sold.

Ø  Introduce a plan to reduce the size and cost of the municipal civil service (primarily through attrition and pension reform).

“Some small business owners worry their municipality will continue to hike property taxes to fund unsustainable spending,” Henshaw said in the news release, adding, “With municipal elections this fall, business owners will be looking for their candidates to commit to saying no to future property tax hikes.”