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 Mayor George Fontaine is putting pressure on Manitoba Finance Minister Stan Struthers to help change how Flin Flon pays its bills. Fontaine last week implored Struthers to support a base property tax as well as a system whereby non-residents who use city services help pay for them. 'I'm not asking the finance minister to open his wallet, I'm asking him to open his mind and say, 'What can we do?'' the mayor told Struthers during a provincial budget consultation held last Monday, Jan. 28, at City Hall. Fontaine said Manitoba imposes an 'antiquated system' of taxation on municipalities, who must apply their mill rate to the assessed value of each home. That has led to huge disparities in tax bills among high-level and low-level homeowners, with Fontaine arguing that a third of Flin Flonners 'aren't really paying enough taxes to even count.' Fontaine renewed his call for the NDP government to let municipalities levy a minimum tax on all properties, as is the case just across the border in Saskatchewan. High-value homes would still be charged more than less luxurious properties, but everyone would pay a minimum tax higher than the $250 or less some Flin Flonners are currently charged. Speaking respectfully but passionately, Fontaine further said Flin Flon and its 5,600 residents are subsidizing services for a region of 12,000 people. 'We're sitting there providing services (for) the outside and we need somebody on the upper level (of government) to say, 'Wait a minute, they do need some help here' and to quit saying, 'Well, not right now, not today,'' the mayor told Struthers. See 'We...' on pg. 12 Continued from pg. 1 Unflappable in his grey suit and black-rimmed glasses, Struthers, the MLA for Dauphin, promised that all suggestions would be taken into account. Struthers reminded Fontaine and other local politicians in the room _ including MLA Clarence Pettersen and Coun. Colleen McKee, chair of the city's Finance Committee _ of the value of persistence. Fontaine, who attended the meeting with about 20 other residents, was not the only critical voice. Trustee Murray Skeavington, chair of the Flin Flon School Board, said the NDP has required the board to limit early-years class sizes without providing the funding boost needed to cover the cost. 'Every other time the government does this, we get a third of the funding to provide the service,' Skeavington told Struthers. 'We're talking (about) it costing school divisions millions and millions of dollars that they don't have, so we have to run to the taxpayers (for more money), so we look like the bad guys from something you guys legislated.' While it may not be enough for Skeavington, Struthers said the province has given school divisions an extra $7 million to help them comply with the class-size limits. 'So it's not like we're just...taking your money away and telling you to do more,' Struthers said. But former Flin Flon mayor Dennis Ballard had a concern not unlike Skeavington's. Ballard said the NDP's practice of 'mandating and legislating shiny projects' cannot continue because municipalities are going broke. Ballard did not mention a specific project, but a sewage treatment plant, water treatment plant and a fee for every tonne of waste entering the municipal landfill are among Flin Flon's NDP-imposed costs. Increases cash Struthers said Manitoba increases funding to municipalities every year and now provides more cash to them than any other province in Canada. In terms of Manitoba Hydro, the Crown corporation he compares to Alberta's oil and Saskatchewan's potash, Struthers signaled no change of direction. Despite opposition from the Progressive Conservatives, the minister said the province will continue to build dams in order to export electricity. Struthers said the province still has commitments from the U.S. to buy power despite the hype surrounding shale gas and its potential to supply cheap electricity to Americans. But what about concerns that Manitobans pay more for their own electricity than those Americans? Struthers said he wasn't sure if that was indeed the case, so he declined to answer questions on the matter. However, the Public Utilities Board, which oversees Manitoba Hydro, estimates that in 2011-12, the utility sold its export power at an average of about three cents per kilowatt hour _ less than half the 6.5 cents paid by Manitobans. Gerard Jennissen, the former NDP MLA for Flin Flon who attended the meeting, said that has a lot to do with power that is sold during non-peak times that would otherwise go to waste. In terms of 'firm power,' Jennissen said American customers pay substantially more than do Manitobans. Struthers, who hosted a series of budget consultations around Manitoba in late January, said the public understands that this is 'a tough budgeting year.' 'You see that in every province,' he said in an interview following the Flin Flon meeting. 'You see it at the federal level. Municipal people have told me it's tight at their level as well. People want us to protect the services that out there, that are important _ health care and education, family services. They want us to continue to invest in our economy to make it grow. So those are the kind of things that we're hearing.' Flin Flonners who could not attend last week's consultation may provide their feedback to Struthers by e-mailing him at [email protected] or filling out the questionnaire at www.gov.mb.ca. They can also write to him at Budget Consultations, Room 103, 450 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8.
