By Mark Squibb/January 6, 2022
Witless Bay council neglected to mention a number of business tax increases during its short budget presentation last week.
Council approved the town’s budget for 2022 in a special meeting held on December 30, just ahead of the year end deadline. The details provided during the public meeting were sparse.
The motion to adopt it, moved by Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard and seconded by councilor Gerard Dunne, was approved unanimously.
Yard said that as finance committee chairman Alex Troake was unavailable for the meeting, she would give a brief overview of the budget.
She began by saying the finance committee worked very hard to ensure there were no increases in residential property tax for the coming year.
“We had hoped to bring the mil rate down half a percentage to 4.5, but with the numbers that we had, it just wasn’t possible this year,” said Yard. “One of the main reasons for this is because there was a decrease in property assessments, and that brought down the amount of tax the town can collect. And as a result, we were below the threshold per resident of roughly $970 per head that we are required to collect in order to qualify for municipal grants and Gas Tax money. This metric is called Own Source Revenue, and we can only fulfill our Own Source Revenue obligations through taxes. We can’t use any other source of income.”
The previous council, in Budget 2021, successfully petitioned the provincial government for an exemption to the Own Source Revenue requirement.
Yard said the flip side of the decrease in property assessments meant that many residents may see a slight reduction in their tax bills.
She said council is committed to working harder in 2022 for next year’s budget and will have a full year to do so. The current members of council were all elected in this past fall’s municipal election. Yard said the goal is to bring the residential tax down to 4.5 mils.
Yard mentioned the general business category mil rate increased from 12 mils to 12.5 mils, which she described as a modest increase and well below neighbouring communities, which she said held at around 14.5 mils.
However, that was really just the tip of the iceberg when it came to commercial business tax increases.
The 2022 tax structure published to the town’s website on Tuesday showed multiple commercial tax increases. The commercial property tax itself increased, rising from 8 mils to 10 mils. Also not mentioned was the increase in the mil rate for banks and financial intuitions from 40 mils to 50 mils, an increase from 18 mils to 25 mils for fish plants, and an increase from 6 mils to 7 mils for personal care and retirement homes. Service stations and seasonal tourism businesses are not included on the 2022 tax list.
Yard said council felt it was fair and equitable to increase the business mil rate, as she claimed the business tax has remained steady over the years while residential taxes had risen.
Yard also said council is investigating how to provide a discount to seniors, those on income support, and low-income families.
“Of course, the government no longer allows municipalities to offer something called a seniors’ discount because it doesn’t include all groups, but what we did was we spoke with other municipalities, like town of Torbay, Portugal Cove, Paradise to determine how they try to offer discounts to people on low income, and, a lot of seniors would fall under that category,” said Yard. “And basically, they do a discount based on income, and for us, that seemed like the way to go, but our accountant advised us that we couldn’t do it this year because we have to provide residents with applications early in the year, and once we get those applications back, we can build the discount, say the loss, into our budget. And of course we wouldn’t be able to do it for 2022 because we haven’t got the applications out.”
Yard also said the town hopes to begin work on new capital works projects and new fire hall in 2022, provided the town is successful in securing funds.
She concluded by saying the town would be posting a more detailed budget summary online in the coming days.
As of Tuesday, the tax structure had been published online, but the budget had not.
There was little discussion on the budget, though before Yard’s presentation councillor Nancy Burke noted one area in which she was not entirely satisfied.
Burke said that while she was pleased council is supporting the Bay Bulls to Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA), she was disappointed council is not providing the full $50,000 requested, as the group is still unable to fundraise because of Covid.
“However, I do support the decision of council, and this budget, and I look forward to our continued collaboration with the BBBAA,” said Burke.
The actual amount that was set aside for the BBBAA was not mentioned.
The budget’s total revenues and expenditures, and whether it is actually balanced as required by provincial legislation, were also not indicated. The Irish Loop Post was unable to reach anyone at the Town Hall to request a full copy of the budget as is provided by other municipalities.
