How Nanaimo Tax Burden Compares

Nanaimo Tax Burden Worrisome

The above statistics come from the Provincial government website and they compare the municipal taxes per capita by community in the province. For comparison I chose most communities on the Island and threw in Kelowna as we are frequently being compared with them.

As you can see both Victoria and Port Alberni are the only two places on the Island where taxes per capita are greater than the city of Nanaimo. You will also note we are well behind Courtenay and Comox with the later imposing $435 less of a tax burden per capita than Nanaimo.

If city hall doesn't think these statistics will be factors assessed by people wanting to retire to Vancouver Island, they are missing an important factor in how we 'market' Nanaimo to people wishing to escape the cold winters in other parts of our great dominion.

With the spending spree staff and council are currently engaged in, I shudder to think how much more of a burden Nanaimo will be imposing in the years to come. Already there is a 21% tax hike planned for the next five years and a 5% water fee increase every year (forever) and that does not include properly funding our water, sewer and roads either.

When city staff assures city council that our tax increases are 'sustainable' I would like to know what data source they are using to come to that conclusion.

They could have held the line on taxes for five years, but would sooner spend $16 million on a new office and furniture for city staff, they are building a $65 million water treatment plant that arguably we don't need and now they are spending millions more to take a pipeline out to Harmac once again demonstrating a complete disconnect when it comes to how many taxes the average Nanaimo taxpayer can handle.