Witless Bay council targets businesses for tax hikes in last minute budget

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.

Latest Covid Alert level puts a cap on Southern Shore rec leagues

By Patrick Newhook/January 6, 2022

The Southern Shore is home to several thriving recreational hockey leagues, and with COVID-19 cases increasing daily, it’s getting more and more challenging to keep them running while living under a pandemic. 

Justin Walsh, president of the Down The Shore Hockey League, described that group as a serious league featuring a lot of friendly competition for the 50 to 60 players who take part.

 “We play every Thursday night, same group of fellows, usually it’s good, it’s a league that’s competitive, not too aggressive, but it’s competitive for say a beer league,” said Walsh. 

The players range from 20 to 40 year old’s, with members from along the Shore and even some from St. John’s. They have four teams with sponsors.

 “COVID has messed it up the last couple of years, but usually we try to get 18 regular season games in and then we play the play-offs which is all four teams in the league… You could play anywhere up to 28 games if it goes five games in each round in the playoffs, or you could play 20 or 21 games,” said Walsh. 

With recent spikes in COVID-19 cases and with the province moving into Alert Level 3 on December 22, the future of the Down the Shore Hockey Leagues season is in question. 

“If it stays at Level 3, we can continue to play, if it moves any higher we’ll have to shut it down,” said Walsh. 

Managing a hockey league during a pandemic isn’t easy.  

“It’s a bit of a pain especially when fellows are paying registration money and then the league gets cut short, so you’ve got to work around that and see how much money you’ve got to give the fellows back to ensure they want to come back next year because they didn’t play the whole year,” said Walsh. “If it stays at Level 3 we can continue to play, if it moves any higher we’ll have to shut it down.”  

Since the interview, the province has gone into Alert Level 4 as of January 4, which further increases the amount of restrictions in place for gatherings. 

Walsh later confirmed the league may be cancelled for the rest of the season. 

“As of now it means that we are shut down, we have no more hockey,” said Walsh. “As long as it stays in Level 4 like this.” 

Walsh is waiting to see what the government says next to see if they may be able to start up again, but realizes they may have to wait until September, COVID-19 permitting. 

“Now they (the provincial government) say that they’ll update it in two weeks and say how it’s going, but once there’s no hockey in the arena for two or three weeks, they’ll end up taking the ice off I would say,” said Walsh. 

Despite being disappointed the league likely won’t get to finish its season, Walsh does understand why this is happening. 

“I’m on board with it, they done the right thing and shut everything down,” he said.

Penney optimistic about BBBAA in 2022

By Patrick Newhook/December 30, 2021

Even though it was another Covid year, 2021 was kinder to the Bay Bulls-Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA) than 2020 was, says its chairman, Scott Penney.

But Penney admitted the BBBAA is still not back to doing things exactly as it did in the past.  

Among the challenges the group faced this past year was a financial one. The BBBAA usually hosts an annual auction and gala dinner. In the past, the event has generated between $75,000 and $100,000 annually. The money is often piggybacked on to funds from local councils and together leveraged to obtain provincial government money for community infrastructure such as softball field upgrades.
“Our infrastructure needs investment,” Penney said. “When you sit around a council and try to find funding for recreation and there’s a question between recreation versus roads, recreation would lose that argument one hundred percent of the time. Which is part of it, we get that. Our ability to go and fundraise through our auction every year and raise somewhere between $75,000 to $100,000, and then reinvest that and leverage the money, that’s a big, big impact for us. For us, that’s a critical challenge.” 

Penney hopes the auction will make a comeback. 

Financial challenges aside, Penney still saw plenty of positives in 2021. 

“The positives are that we got people back doing things with the services that we provide,” said Penney. “The soccer facility was full to capacity, our summer program, even though we had them split to keep the numbers down, we were able to maximize our occupancy on those which is positive.” 

Penney is looking forward to 2022 and 2023, and believes that while the future is unknown, it seems bright for the BBBAA. 

“We’ll continue to do what we do to make sure our communities continue to be great places to live and raise a family,” said Penney. “I’m very hopeful and positive for 2022.”

Bay Bulls asking Witless Bay for a helping hand

By Craig Westcott/December 23, 2021

Bay Bulls council is requesting financial help from Witless Bay to pay for upgrades to the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre (BBRLC).

“The Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre is a regional facility that serves the Town of Bay Bulls, Witless Bay, Tor’s Cove, Burnt Cove, and Bauline,” said Mayor Neil O’Brien. “The BBRLC requires upgrades to be completed in 2022. The Town of Bay Bulls will be submitting an official request to the Town of Witless Bay to make financial contributions to those upgrades.”

Council seemed to have few reservations about making the request. Councilor Keith O’ Driscoll made the motion, and councillors Jason Sullivan and Shannon O’ Driscoll seconded it simultaneously. O’Brien said that as he saw Shannon’s hand first, she would be noted as the one who officially seconded the motion.

Councilor Sullivan did however make his thoughts known.

“I think everyone realizes the burden the taxpayers of Bay Bulls have for the entire region,” said Sullivan. “Just two weeks ago, we had the hot water give out, and it cost us $17,000. It’s a regional building and we have a right to ask for help to keep it going.”

The motion was carried unanimously.

Witless Bay council approves some, defers some and denies some

By Mark Squibb/December 23, 2021

Witless Bay town council had a number of home construction applications, and a couple commercial applications, to consider at the last regularly scheduled meeting of council held on December 14.

Council was in receipt of an application for a home on Dunn’s Lane. Councilor Jacob Hayden made a motion to defer the application until council received more information from the town planner.

“We’re sort of curious on a couple of points so rather than move forward, or move backward, we just wanted to double check some things that were unclear,” explained councilor Ralph Carey.

Next up was an application to build a home on O’Brien’s Road. Carey made a motion to deny the application.

“There is a planning report on this, and the background is several, several pages, and the conclusion is that the subject property is not capable of meeting the current requirements of residential roads,” said Carey.

Council unanimously voted to deny the application.

Next was an application to grub three lots on Dean’s Road.

Jacob Hayden moved that council deny the application, based on the recommendation of the town planner, saying that each lot ought to have been applied for individually.

Another application to build a home on Dunn’s Road was approved, following publication of a notice of variance. No complaints were received by the town.

The home will have to be built in compliance with ServiceNL’s requirement’s for onsite water and septic systems and provide a satisfactory onsite drainage and gradient plan, along with installation of a culvert that meets municipal standards.

After a short discussion about a reservation between the property line and the edge of the road, which was not marked on the drawing before council but was included in the application, the motion was approved unanimously.

The town also unanimously approved a request for a resident to develop an outdoor market along the Southern Shore highway.

A discretionary notice had been published, and no concerns were raised.

Another application for a home along the Southern Shore Highway was rejected at the recommendation of the town planner, at least until a revised application can be completed and a revised site visit held.

Council was also in receipt of a request to rescind a previous application to build a home. But, so far as council was concerned, the application never existed in the first place.

“There is no application on file in the name that the correspondent indicated,” said Carey. “Thank you for your inquiry. When we’re given a request, we can look into it. But right now, there is nothing on the names that this person mentioned.”