City Hall Playing 'Politics' With Tax Increase

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City Hall 'Finds' Some Surplus Income

At yesterday's COW meeting Nanaimo taxpayers got some good news in that our taxes won't be going up quite as much as previously thought.

The new tax increase for this year has been tweaked a bit arriving at a blended tax increase of 1.9%. What is not mentioned is that residential taxes (most of us) are going up 2.9% while the industrial taxes are now being reduced by a whopping 24.2% up from the previous reduction of a less-whopping 16.5%.

SMOKE & MIRRORS

Council and city staff have come up with some new bafflegab to hopefully make us think they are doing a bang-up job when it comes to holding the line on taxes. For example they almost make it sound as if it weren't for a special asset management levy our taxes would be really reasonable. Watch as councilors and staff make that distinction a lot going forward.

Wait A Minute ...

When was properly funding our water, sewer and roads considered to be something requiring a 'special' asset management tax. Weren't city councillors and city staff supposed to be funding water, sewer and roads as job # 1? What am I missing??

Whether the slight reduction in tax increase this year is a genuine result of all that hard work council and staff would have you believe they did, or they are just playing some political game given their abysmal ability to bring tax increases in line, is anyone's guess.

Infrastructure Still Underfunded

Don't' let this city council or city staff fool you, they are still no where near putting aside enough money to properly fund water, sewer and roads. The $12 million shortfall identified two years ago, is still not being addressed. Like many 'leaders' today this bunch is just kicking the can down the road, hoping it doesn't blow up until after they retire, leaving the mess for someone else.