When Mayor Sam Katz renews his commitment to a property tax freeze at the State of the City address Tuesday, the usual critics will whine that city hall can no longer afford a freeze because it needs the money to fix our crumbling bridges and roads.
They’ll argue a property tax freeze would force the city to budget with virtually the same revenue it did last year, causing it to fall further behind on its infrastructure deficit.
Costs are rising and the city’s needs are growing, the critics will say. Therefore, we need to raise property tax rates to pay for those growing expenses.
It sounds like a reasonable position. How can city councillors freeze taxes every year and expect city hall to keep up with growing expenses and a backlog of infrastructure projects?
The answer is fairly simple. Despite the tax “freeze,” city hall revenues have been soaring in recent years, both from higher tax revenues and user fees and from skyrocketing government transfers.
The city’s total consolidated revenues — which include everything from taxes and sewer and water rates to bus fare and licence fees — have grown a staggering 32% from 2004 to 2008, according to the city’s 2008 annual report.
City coffers took in $969 million in 2004. That jumped to $1.27 billion by 2008.
Taxation revenue alone — which includes all city taxes such as property, business and consumption taxes — increased 6% during that period, despite the tax freeze and a business tax cut.
User charges, including revenues from ballooning sewer and water rates — money raised in part to pay for expensive sewer and water upgrades — jumped 27% to $328 million.
Government transfers from both the province and the federal government more than doubled to $213 million in 2008 from $94 million in 2004.
And interest income and “other” revenues soared to $123 million from $54 million four years earlier.
Not all of that money goes into the city’s general revenue fund. Some of it stays with utilities, such as water and waste, and some goes into reserves. But it’s all city revenue and it all comes from one pocket: the taxpayers.
The city may have frozen your property taxes, but they’ve jacked up your sewer and water rates, increased your frontage levy and charged you higher taxes on your hydro bill because of increased electricity rates.
If you’ve renovated your property under a building permit, your taxes have gone up. Licence fees have increased across the board.
And even the amount the city charges you at Brady Landfill for residential use has doubled.
Add in the fact that the number of taxable properties in Winnipeg has jumped to 211,048 in 2008 from 205,366 in 2004 and you can see how city hall is raking it in.
So this nonsense about how a “freeze” would starve the city of much-needed cash is based entirely on misinformation and political spin.
The city doesn’t need more our money. If anything, they need to control their spending.
City hall’s salary and benefit costs jumped 14% to $564 million in 2008 compared with $496 million in 2004, according to the city’s annual report.
Supporters of a tax hike are demanding a “modest” 1% to 2% increase this year, which would raise $4 million to $8 million.
I have a better idea. Take the $8 million from salaries and benefits budget and leave taxpayers alone.
They pay enough already.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/tom_brodbeck/2010/01/25/12610331.html
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