Is the cost of living in Flin Flon spiralling out of control? Are taxes and utility bills far too high? Is municipal spending unreasonable?
These questions, as common as they have become in recent years, are completely subjective. The only way to devise objective answers is to contrast Flin Flon with similar communities.
That’s just what The Reminder has done, comparing Flin Flon’s municipal spending and fees with those of our northern neighbours in The Pas and Thompson.
In a nutshell: Flin Flon spends more per-capita than either The Pas or Thompson, has a lower standard tax rate than The Pas, and charges more for water, on average, than Thompson but significantly less than The Pas – at least for the time being.
Delving in deeper, let’s start with total spending. In 2014, Flin Flon has budgeted $12,609,436 in expenditures, or $2,255 per resident.
That’s 12 per cent higher than The Pas’ $2,021 per person ($11,140,423 total) and nine per cent above Thompson’s $2,067 per resident ($27,123,107).
Taxes
Next is the tax rate, known as the mill rate, with separate rates applied to residential and commercial properties.
Flin Flon’s residential rate this year is 45.81 mills – 21 per cent higher than in Thompson (37.71 mills) but 23 per cent lower than in The Pas (59.62).
The commercial mill rate in Flin Flon is 57.20 mills. This is 19 per cent lower than in The Pas (71.01) but 14 per cent higher than in Thompson (49.10).
Complicating these comparisons is the fact that Flin Flon now charges a special levy of $550 to every home and business to pay for police and fire protection. The structure of the fee is complex, but the end result is that low-end buildings are charged higher taxes.
Thompson, meanwhile, charges every home an annual fee of $63 to pay for water, storm sewer and sewer service line maintenance.
One must also consider the fact that real estate in The Pas and Thompson is generally worth far more than in Flin Flon.
That’s relevant because the mill rate is applied against the market value of a property. So although a $120,000 home in Flin Flon carries a higher tax bill than a house of the same value in Thompson, the Flin Flon property will likely be high-end – and the Thompson one a mobile home.
Convoluted
Comparing water and sewer rates between the three communities is a convoluted exercise given that The Pas and Thompson households pay a rate based on consumption while most Flin Flon homes are charged a flat rate.
Canadian Geographic magazine reported in 2000 that the average Canadian household uses about 82,422 gallons of water a year.
If we apply that figure to The Pas, the average household can expect to pay about $1,324 a year. In Thompson, the average household would pay about $805 annually.
Flin Flonners without water meters – which includes most residents – currently pay $859 a year. That’s about $54, or seven per cent, more than the average Thompson home and $465 less, or 35 per cent, than the average homeowner in The Pas.
That said, Flin Flon city council is seeking regulatory approval to hike water and sewer rates by 30 per cent this year, bringing the total annual bill to $1,117 a year – still $207 less than in The Pas.
Then again, a one-person home that uses very little water can pay as little as $325 a year in The Pas and $326 in Thompson.
Since Flin Flon prohibits the installation of new meters, most Flin Flonners pay at least two and a half times that amount even if they consume minimal water.
Municipal taxes and fees are indeed part of the equation for people when deciding where to live, but they’re not the whole story. Nor are municipalities the only entity with their hand in your pocket.
A new study from the Fraser Institute finds that the average Canadian family now spends more on taxes than on food, shelter and clothing combined.
The study showed that the average Canadian family earned $77,381 in 2013, of which 32,369 – 42 per cent – went to taxes at the municipal, provincial and federal level.
