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.
Flin Flon City Council sought to right a historic wrong at this week's Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) convention in Brandon. Unfortunately, it's doubtful the risk-weary provincial government is listening. Council introduced a resolution calling on the province to let municipalities charge a base tax on all properties. Only a portion of your tax bill Ð as opposed to all of it Ð would be predicated on the value of your property. The resolution said that because the present system is based solely on market value, owners of more expensive homes pay far more for the same municipal services as residents who live in more modest digs. The present system also "fails to provide an incentive to promoting the upgrading of properties while unfairly moving the tax burden onto property owners who do," the resolution asserts. Convention delegates wisely saw the prudence in the concept and carried the resolution, meaning the AMM will now lobby Premier Greg Selinger and his government to institute the fair-minded change. Don't hold your breath. This form of tax tinkering has now been put forth (though not necessarily to AMM) by at least three different Flin Flon city councils. The NDP government has been scoffing at the idea for years, and there's no reason to think they'll have a change of heart just because Mr. Selinger, the long-time finance minister, is now premier. Now comes the obvious question: If council's proposition carries so much common sense, why doesn't Mr. Selinger stand up in the legislature and declare his government's wholehearted support? The answer is just as conspicuous: politics. Think about it. What council's resolution essentially asks is that the property tax burden be more evenly spread among the populace, shifting it away from the wealthy and more toward Joe and Jane Average. The province knows very well that there are a lot more Joe and Janes out there than there are those who can afford high-end homes. According to Statistics Canada, the average Manitoban who works full-time earns $37,600 a year, fourth-lowest among the 10 provinces. If the province were to green-light council's plan, that average majority would watch their tax bills rise as the deep-pocketed minority sees theirs sink. And everyone would know who to blame. "Fairness for the richer" isn't exactly in the NDP vocabulary, and this is a party that knows how to pick its fights. They've stayed in power for more than a decade now precisely because they know how to avoid irking the masses. It was a good try, city council, but your idea is no more alive than it was two councils ago. Local Angle runs Fridays.
