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.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Debate over a city council proposal to more evenly spread the tax burden _ with the effect of raising what low-end homes pay _ is intensifying as the province reveals it has no plans to intervene. A spokesperson for the NDP government said council's proposal to add a new service fee to all Flin Flon homes falls within municipal jurisdiction. 'Council is using its revenue tools to allocate the cost of municipal services, to citizens, property owners and other users of municipal services, in what it views as the most appropriate manner,' the spokesperson tells The Reminder. 'This is a local council decision. The municipality has the responsibility and the tools to make these decisions.' In a time of rising costs, council argues its proposal _ by no means finalized _ is appropriate since high-end homeowners already face sizable property tax bills while low-end homeowners often pay in the range of $300 a year. Same for all A new fee, such as one that covers police or fire services, would apply to all homes. The cost would be the same for all homeowners, but a key intent would be to ensure low-end homes take on a greater share of the municipal cost load. That has residents like Dennis Hydamaka concerned about the impact on low-income earners and welfare recipients who often occupy such homes. Hydamaka, food distribution chairperson at the Lord's Bounty Food Bank, agrees the city is 'really suffering financially' and needs new revenue streams. 'But don't start with those who can't afford it,' he says. Hydamaka says the food bank primarily serves renters, whose rents could conceivably rise if landlords are slapped with new fees on their properties. But he says the charity also serves at least one family that includes two people who work and have managed to buy a low-end home. Hydamaka says the cost of living is increasing as it is while low-income wages and welfare benefits fail to keep pace. 'I don't think (the proposal) is justified,' he says. See 'Council's...' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 Like Hydamaka, long-time resident Bruce Reid certainly has sympathy for the less fortunate. But Reid says council's proposal, while imperfect, is 'a step in the right direction.' 'I don't think we have any choice,' he says. Reid, a Hudbay pensioner, says Flin Flon's infrastructure was once funded by nearly 15,000 people but today relies on less than 6,000. He believes all Canadians should pay a base tax on their properties to ensure municipal services are funded, with homes then paying additional taxes based on market value. Saskatchewan already has such a system in place, but Manitoba, despite years of lobbying by Flin Flon and other municipalities, has resisted following suit. Reid says all Flin Flonners get the same utility bills, a system he believes 'works well' and should be applied to other city services. While low-income residents are a concern for those opposing council's proposal, Reid believes the plan may actually help them. As he sees it, by further spreading out the tax burden council could glean new income to put toward affordable housing. And if residents with higher-end homes continue to pay more taxes, he adds, they will have less money to donate in support of the less fortunate. Of course not all Flin Flonners living in low-end homes are on fixed incomes. Reid asserts there are 'a lot of people that can well afford to pay,' who 'choose to live where they do solely because the taxes are next to nothing right now.' No clear data That said, there is no clear data _ nor is there likely to be _ on how many residents in low-end homes have fixed incomes and how many pull in more generous earnings. What is known is that the number of Flin Flonners who may be struggling to get by is noteworthy and on the rise. While the food bank has lost about 50 clients over the last year, Hydamaka says overall usage has actually increased slightly as remaining clients rely more heavily on the charity. Single clients, including single parents, have roughly doubled in the last year alone, he adds. At the same time, the average number of people in the Flin Flon region on welfare for the first eight months of 2011 was up nearly 20 per cent from the average recorded in 2008. When it comes to welfare, the province combines Flin Flon, Cranberry Portage, Snow Lake and non-treaty residents in Pukatawagan into a single category. Figures specifically for Flin Flon are not provided, but it is by far the largest community in the region. The province's welfare figures do not include residents on First Nations band welfare, which is funded by the federal government. Meanwhile, government data shows that in 2006, in the Manitoba portion of Flin Flon _ almost the entire community _ 11.1 per cent of families fell into the low-income bracket. That was only slightly lower than the Manitoba-wide figure for the same year. Despite such realities, there are legitimate questions over whether a new fee would really entail serious consequences for the less fortunate. This is particularly true since it is not yet clear how costly the fee, if ever implemented, would be. There did not appear to be major problems in Saskatchewan, for instance, when that province implemented a base tax that effectively boosted what low-end homeowners pay. Moreover, the existence of Manitoba's ever-increasing property tax credit for homeowners could help blunt any impact from a new charge. Reid, who pays about $5,000 a year in taxes on his double-lot property, says it is human nature to oppose higher bills. Still, he worries about the future of city services unless something is done. 'There are many things that are being provided to people in this area that I think they're very fortunate to have,' Reid says, 'and down the road I can see all those things commencing to deterioration because of a lack of funds.' Reid says society as a whole has 'become accustomed to a quality of life that we can no longer support' without digging deeper into our wallets. The Manitoba government spokesperson says the province's property tax system _ whereby homeowners pay based on the market value of their properties _ is 'used throughout North America as the basis of...property taxation.' 'Have tools' 'In most cases it results in a fair and equitable distribution of taxes,' says the spokesperson. 'In cases where it does not, municipalities have tools under The Municipal Act that enable them to levy taxes differently and ensure property owners pay their fair share of the cost of providing services.' Those tools include not only service fees, but also user fees and permit fees, among others, the spokesperson says. 'Councils need to evaluate their local assessment and tax situation and determine which approaches work best for them and their property owners and citizens,' adds the spokesperson. Council's talk of a new fee follows failed efforts to convince the Manitoba government to let municipalities establish a base property tax as is done in Saskatchewan. Asked last year about the fairness of a base tax system, Mayor George Fontaine said owners of low-end homes 'are effectively being subsidized by the general taxpaying public.' 'If a household is paying less than the cost of a cup of coffee in taxes per day, I think a change in the way we collect for services may not be unfair,' he told The Reminder. 'A system of taxation which requires any household to cover the cost of basic services seems reasonable.' Mayor Fontaine said not all low-end homes are owned by people who would have trouble affording an increase. 'I am often told, by some people who own such properties, that they recognize they pay less than the cost of services received,' he said. 'No one walks up to the front desk of City Hall and volunteers to pay more.' And until residents begin volunteering to pay more, Mayor Fontaine and his council may continue to face tough decisions on how to raise revenue.
