Dear Editor,
In your Nov. 13 edition, Mr. Ken Pawlachuk wrote a letter to the editor discussing the recent controversy in Flin Flon surrounding the cabin areas between Flin Flon and Cranberry Portage.
Close to the end of his letter, Mr. Pawlachuk stated, “Ask the people of Snow Lake about annexation, and paying high taxes with very limited service.”
There are several problems with this statement.
First of all, the cabin areas outside of Snow Lake were never annexed by the municipality. Each of these areas was an integral part of Snow Lake from the time of their construction.
Second, as Mr. Pawlachuk states elsewhere in his letter, there is no such thing as a two-tier tax system in Manitoba.
Taxes in all communities are based on the relationship between assessments that are completed by Manitoba government employees and the mill rate that is set by each municipality.
In the time of our current council, the mill rate in Snow Lake has fallen by almost half, from the high 70s down to the 30s.
Combine this with the fact that a recent study of housing prices shows that homes in Snow Lake are being sold at an average of $40 to $50 / square foot less than in Flin Flon and you can see that buying a home in Snow Lake is a good investment.
It is a well-known fact that Snow Lake has been through a number of difficult years, but those times are behind us.
Our budgets have stabilized and our mill rates are falling. We had a zero tax increase in our last budget and are on the way to another one this year.
Our streets are being repaired, businesses are actively being recruited and new housing subdivisions are moving into their engineering phase.
Our streets are cleared every time it snows, we have automated garbage pick-up and a new wastewater treatment plant in the final phases of testing.
Snow Lake has the lowest crime rate in northern Manitoba and is an active, vibrant place to live.
I’d ask Mr. Pawlachuk to be more careful in his statements about our community.
Thank you for your time.
Clarence Fisher
Mayor
Town of Snow Lake
