'They're living in an enchanted kingdom'
Chambers of commerce say city hall out of touch as officials call for another tax increase
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 19, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The business community is not mincing words as city council considers yet another property tax increase proposal from administration.
The city's inability to keep costs down is making the city unaffordable, representatives with the NWT and Yellowknife chambers of commerce told city council Monday as administration proposed a 2.98 tax increase for 2015.
"The issue for us has always been the high cost of living and the high cost of operating," said Mike Bradshaw, director of the NWT Chamber of Commerce.
"The city has the ability to make decisions that can influence that. Instead, they're just going down their merry path reaching into everyone's pockets along the way.
"They're living in an enchanted kingdom while the rest of us are struggling to get by."
Last week, the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, which represents 272 businesses in Yellowknife, sent out surveys to 500 people on their mailing list with questions about what they thought of the proposed tax increase.
Deneen Everett, executive director of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, said of those who have since responded, the overwhelming majority supported a tax freeze.
"The business community here is just looking for a break," said Everett.
"The cost of doing business is already so high. People are tired of it. They believe that now is a time for fiscal responsibility and a time to stop spending and hold back."
Everett said businesses have told her they are willing to accept a decrease in services if it means paying lower taxes.
"Everyone wants new facilities and new services but the business community, from what I've heard, doesn't. They're willing to make some sacrifices so that taxes don't go up again," she said.
While the proposed property tax increase is under three per cent, Bradshaw pointed out that the city is also jacking up user fees for essential services such as water and sewer and solid waste collection to the tune of eight per cent and five per cent respectively over the next three years.
"The NWT Chamber of Commerce is deeply disappointed in this tactic of shuffling expenses and resources for revenue to make it seem like they're doing something about taxes. It's just a shell game."
Carl Bird, director of corporate services, stated in an e-mail to Yellowknifer that the city's financial administration bylaw requires it to maintain separate funds for solid waste management and water and sewer services "to account for the financial activities related to the operations of those funds." According to Bird, the city has been charging user fees for water and sewer services for 70 years and garbage pickup and solid waste fees for 55 years.
"We have not changed the way we collect fees for these services," he stated.
Coun. Adrian Bell said he is going to push for a tax decrease because the jump in user fees pegs the real tax burden to residents at closer to six per cent.
"To put it simply, instead of using your property taxes to pay for the dump and the water and sewer system, we're charging you 'user fees,'" Bell wrote in a blog post on his website last week. The transition to using user fees to pay for services creates a misleading impression, because while people can (get) out of going to the pool or the Fieldhouse, they cannot lower their water and sewer fee by using less water, said Bell.
"The issue is one of transparency," Bell told Yellowknifer. "Ultimately it's not a tax, it's a user fee."
Bradshaw pointed to recent acquisitions such as new low-floor buses and the 50/50 parking lot at Franklin Avenue and 50 Street as a sign that the city is not listening to taxpayers. While there is little that the chamber can do to directly influence administration; he hopes council will get the message.
"We've said what needs to be said. We got a lot of support for from the business community and the general public. The city seems to think it can continue to do things the same way regardless of the economic circumstances," he said.
"The only way we're going to be able to change that is at the next election."
