Bowman defends tax hikes as strategic investments
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2015 (3340 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Mayor Brian Bowman defended the increases in property taxes and a range of user fees proposed in Tuesday’s budget.
Bowman said that until municipalities are allowed an alternative to property taxes, they have no choice but to finance operations with increases to traditional sources of revenue.
“We need to amp up the discussion on,” alternatives to property taxes, Bowman said today following a brief meeting of his executive policy committee.
“I wish we didn’t have to increase anything, to be perfectly honest. It’s not something we decided upon lightly.”
Property taxes aside, Bowman said the increase in user fees – frontage levies, annual garbage fees – amount to $6 per household a month.
“What you’re getting for that is unprecedented levels of funding for street repairs, a new traffic management system, a plan to end homelessness and many others,” Bowman said. “There are strategic investments to move us beyond 1998 and into a much more modern, thriving city.
“We need to really be more strategic with our investments and it costs more to do that.”
The increase in the frontage levy – 60 cents per foot, or a $30 increase for a 50-foot lot – will go directly for road improvements, Bowman said.
“The number one priority during the (civic election) campaign and since has been street renewal,” Bowman said. “Our streets are in horrible shape… We need to invest a lot more money in our roads.”
aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
