The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Flin Flon's next budget will likely be delayed because of uncertainty over one its more controversial proposals. Most of council wants the budget to include a new per-household fee for police and fire protection that would raise taxes on low-end homes. But the Manitoba Municipal Board has the final say on the fee and, due to the level of opposition, will most likely hold a local public hearing on the matter before reaching a decision. The hearing would be held in early June at the soonest. That's weeks later than the traditional April or May date for council to unveil its budget in accordance with provincial rules. Mark Kolt, chief administrative officer for the municipality, said the city will ask the province for the necessary extension _ and is confident it will get one. The Municipal Board, a quasi-judicial tribunal, automatically schedules a hearing on a proposal if there are at least 25 written objectors. While there are different ways of adding up the numbers, it appears there are at least that many objectors, or close to it, to the per-household fee. Council's plan would see the $1.6 million annual cost of the Flin Flon RCMP and the Flin Flon Fire Dept. removed from property taxes. That amount would then be evenly divided among all taxpaying properties in the community _ $536.62 per residential property in 2013 and about $550 in 2014. The end result would be that low-end homes, some of which are charged less than $250 a year, would be hit with larger property tax bills. It would also lower taxes on high-end homes, at least in the short-term pending future mill rate hikes that have the largest impact on those properties. Supporters of the fee argue that low-end homes are not paying enough to cover their share of municipal services and that escalating taxes on high-end homes risk pushing home construction out of Flin Flon. See 'Impact' on pg. Continued from pg. Moreover, Creighton has for years charged a minimum tax of $700, and proponents suggest no ill effects have resulted. But opponents worry about the impact on seniors and other residents who live on fixed incomes, and point out that homeowners will be hit with rising utility bills once the new water treatment plant becomes operational. City council has already passed the first reading of a motion to institute the fee, but the third and final reading is at the mercy of the Municipal Board's binding decision. Coun. Skip Martin, the lone voice of opposition on council, has portrayed the fee as Robin Hood in reverse. When combined with a planned mill rate increase, he said the fee will see the bottom 70 per cent of homes collectively pay about $400,000 extra while the top 30 per cent saves about $140,000. If charged more under the fee, some low-end homeowners would be able to claim a greater share of a provincial tax rebate. Should it be approved, the new fee would be added as a separate line to each homeowner's tax bill, similar to a debenture.
