Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 17/99) - Show us the pain, if there is any, the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce recently advised city council.

At a meeting last Thursday, the chamber asked the mayor and council to direct city hall staff to prepare a budget that will show the implications of cutting property taxes by 10 per cent.

"We want them to give that direction to staff ... and we want it presented in a way the community can understand," said chamber member Alan Vaughan.

Vaughan, along with fellow chamber members John Williston and Andy Wong, said the chamber is not demanding a 10 per cent cut in taxes, but wants to know what effect such a cut would have on services.

"Get it on the table, call it an option, let the debate happen and see where it ends up," said Vaughan.

Coun. Bob Brooks said the suggestion makes sense to him.

"I think the majority of council has the will to do it," said Brooks. Once people see the implications of such a budget they may be unwilling to make the sacrifices in services it demands, he added.

Wong said most of the people he has talked to are prepared to accept some reduction in services to achieve the cut, but that the chamber is not completely convinced cuts would be necessary.

Two councillors the chamber is going to have the most difficult time swaying are Ben McDonald and Kevin O'Reilly.

"Tax cuts mean service cuts," said McDonald. He said where services are cut, costs will be passed along to individual users, some of whom will have less ability to pay for them than others. McDonald said municipal taxes act as a form of income redistribution that helps those who need help most.

"If people want less taxes, they have to be prepared to identify what programs and services they believe should be cut," said O'Reilly. It is more important to maintain current levels of services than cut taxes, he said.

The chamber will also have a challenge bringing Coun. Robert Slaven on side.

Slaven has estimated a 10 per cent cut in taxes will lower the cost of the city by less than one half of a per cent. But Williston said the value of a 10 per cent cut would be at least as important symbolically as it would be on a practical level.

"The big thing is the installation of confidence in the city," said Williston. "A lot of people out there have had to cut back their spending. There isn't a level of confidence out there that the city has done the same thing."