HRM council debated the “tax reform” proposal for nearly three hours January 26 before defeating it on a 13-10 vote. But, in a widely circulated email sent out after the vote (on the web, here), Malcolm Fraser, chair of the political group Citizens for Halifax, says it’s a “fact” that “40 percent of the recorded […]
tax reform
Posted inNews + Opinion
“Tax Reform” proposal is dead
It started innocently enough. Concerned that rapidly increasing and uneven property assessments were resulting in big tax increases for homeowners, three years ago HRM councillors established the Tax Reform Committee and charged it with finding a better way to fund government. Along the way, however, the committee went off track. It embraced the concept of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Counting “tax reform” votes…
Having talked with most of the Halifax councillors about “tax reform,” and otherwise listened to their public statements, I can pretty much forecast how each will vote next Tuesday, when “tax reform” finally comes before council. As follows: Streatch: No Dalrymple: ? Hendsbee: Yes Nicoll: No McCluskey: No Fisher: No Karsten:No Barkhouse: No Smith: No […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Tax politics heat up
Last week, Dartmouth area councillors took an unprecedented public stand against the so-called “tax reform” proposal, which will likely come before the full Halifax council this Tuesday, January 26. The Harbour East Community Council—which consists of Dartmouth councillors Gloria McCluskey, Jim Smith, Bill Karsten and Darren Fisher, Cole Harbour councillor Lorelei Nicoll and Eastern Passage […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Hypocritical Uteck
Councillor Sue Uteck: I find it interesting that you are able to condemn the winter parking ban tickets issued last Sunday evening as a “tax grab.” And yet less than a week earlier you were on CBC radio promoting the new HRM “tax reform,” a proposal designed to lower your own taxes, and raise taxes […]
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
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
Notes on the figures used in this article
There is necessarily some problem with figuring out the exact effects of “tax reform.” That’s because, on the one hand, the Tax Reform Committee’s work dealt exclusively with 2007 budget numbers and the committee has not increased the numbers in their proposal to reflect an increase in city costs since then. On the other hand, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City table compares current tax with proposed tax by district
Table data provided by the HRM. You can view the original pdf here. Figures as part of a chart entitled. “Preliminary Analysis on Best Possible Tax System Average Municipal Tax for Single Family Homes (Includes Condos and Mobile Homes, Excludes Low Income Rebates) 24-Nov-09″. A caveat at the bottom of the table explains what is […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
McCluskey, Uteck butt heads
[I’ve been looking for an excuse to use that headline for years] Councillors Gloria McCluskey and Sue Uteck will appear on CBC’s Information Morning tomorrow (Friday) morning at 7:45am to discuss “tax reform.” McCluskey is opposed to the proposal; Uteck is supportive of it. Related Stories
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 […]