Dear Editor,
I am writing in regards to the upcoming public meeting at City Hall on Friday, Feb. 13 dealing with the special services levy.
The purpose of this levy was to shift some of the tax roll from the higher end homes to the lower end homes. I was against this proposal when I was on council and I still am.
One of the consequences of this levy is that it also shifted some of the tax roll from the business sector to the residential sector.
This unintended shift from businesses to residences was actually larger than the intended shift from high-end to low-end properties.
I was told at the time that this shift would be corrected by adjusting the portioning part of the tax system to bring the business share back to the 2013 level.
However, it was determined that there was not enough time to do this for the 2014 tax year. Over a year has passed and still this adjustment has not been made.
If enough people object to this levy at Friday’s hearing, the Municipal Board of Manitoba will hold a hearing locally to decide if they will approve this proposal.
