Dartmouth councillor Gloria McCluskey’s effort to ban booze at city events is dead in the water. McCluskey, who has long objected to beer companies setting up tents at Natal Day and Canada Day celebrations, asked the HRM council to disassociate alcohol vendors from city-sponsored events. The council rejected that request at its Tuesday meeting, on […]
City Council
Posted inNews + Opinion
Winter wonderland
I think it’s absolutely wonderful that the HRM has begun issuing winter ban parking tickets, particularly on a rainy Sunday evening—the first night of the ban —when no snow removal efforts were underway. I was under the impression that the ban began on December 15, as were most people I had spoken with regarding this […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Taxing HRM
Tim Bousquet’s “Why everyone loses under the city’s property tax plan” (December 10) is an excellent article and those who read it will understand much about the tax reform plan and why it can’t possibly work. My first question is: why haven’t the powers that be requested information on tax reform from similar-sized areas, so […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Bruce Fisher on The Coast’s tax reform analysis
The Coast’s recent “opinion” piece on the tax reform issue contains a number of errors and misleading statements that need clarification. Property Tax Reform started not because of a south end Halifax lobby effort, but because the existing tax system was not serving its citizens well. As has been well-documented, the value of one’s home […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Chequebook politics leaves city staff short changed
Last week, city staff announced that the pay rates for Halifax councillors had been improperly calculated, and so every councillor serving since 2005 would receive a one-time payment making up for lost pay. The payments totalled $246,096.16; some councillors received as much as $8,000, but most considerably less. Councillors used to set their own pay […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City Councillors’ property tax profiles
City councillors will vote on the “tax reform” proposal as soon as this coming Tuesday. The proposal will profoundly affect tens of thousands of property tax bills in HRM, so it’s entirely appropriate to ask: How will councillors’ votes affect their own property bills? The list below shows what “tax reform” does to the city […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Case studies in “tax reform”
Case study: Neighbouring suburban communities Kingswood Upper Hammonds Plains Market value of average house $542,020 $107,380 Current city and provincial tax $5,908 $876 City and provincial tax under “reform” $3,311 $1,532 City’s share of current taxes $3,813 $560 City taxes under “tax reform” $1,216 $1,216 Change in city tax $2,597 lower (-68%) increases $656 (+117%) […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Urban chickens plan re-flight
Last year, Halifax council declined to intervene as bylaw officers evicted three chickens from Louise Hanavan’s north end yard. But the issue is far from dead—councillor Jennifer Watts has announced she will soon ask city staff to establish possible land use guidelines that permit urban chickens. The issue will come before the December 14 Peninsula […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s “tax reform” favours wealthy with higher value homes
A report released by city officials overseeing the so-called “tax reform” proposal could not have been better designed to inflame urban vs. suburban strife. The one-page document, which was handed out at a Tuesday workshop for councillors, shows the effects of “tax reform” by electoral district averages. For example, using 2007 numbers, under “tax reform” […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Council’s secret “public meeting” on tax reform
Today, Halifax council met for a “workshop” on so-called “tax reform,” a proposal to jettison the time-honoured system of assessment-based property taxes and replace it with a fee-for-services system. When the workshop was discussed by council last month, assurances were given that it would be open to the public. And it was, nominally. Only problem […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Worst Thing To Happen In Halifax In The Past Year
We’re not sure what’s worse, the actual failure of the sewage treatment plant that—at the date of this writing—remains out of service, or the lack of transparency in the mayor’s office regarding the analysis of the plant’s shutdown. Thanks to pressure from the public and media, they’re being a little more open about the ways […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Councillor
“The city is abuzz” with positives, says Sloane. They include being able to secure funding for Centennial Pool and keeping local schools open—including St Patrick’s-Alexandra—HRM by Design (“whether you like it or not,” she says, laughing) and the potential for affordable, mixed-use housing. Moving forward she’s going to work towards the getting the master plan […]