In an editorial (Herald Extra, 2017-02-22) captioned “5 per cent is too high,” the council of the City of Penticton is cautioned by the statement: “Keep in mind this council will be working with higher assessments. Property assessments increased significantly from last year in this year.”
I believe these words are spot on, as they point out the “multiplier effect,” and I would like to stress that this annual budgeting quandary applies to all local governments.
With this year’s (average) 10 per cent increase in property assessments, a 5.0 per cent property tax increase would in fact yield (check it out: 1.05 x 1.10 = 1.155) a truly whopping 15.5 per cent more revenue for a municipality. Even with a moderate 1.99 per cent property tax increase (as proposed by the Town of Osoyoos) that percentage (1.0199 x 1.10) yields a 12.2 per cent increase in revenue.
Now it is very unlikely that most people like yourselves (salaried) and I (a senior, on CPP, OAS and RRIF income sources which are “static”) have received a raise in the “double digit range” last year – or over the past few years in fact. That’s a hard reality. So why should municipalities do so? Were these councils voted into power in order to splurge? Where is the reality there?
Please tell me where is the municipal council that has the wherewithal (also called “guts”) to suggest a zero per cent tax increase? Is that impossible? Such local government would obviously still be receiving 10 per cent more tax revenue, due to the higher assessments. Only in my dreams, you say?
“Charity begins at home.” If many individuals can “do with less” on low income increases, but the lower level of government cannot follow that example, no wonder the provincial and federal governments are even more at a loss for accountability.
Jacob de Raadt, Osoyoos
