People worry about potential impact of tax hike
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/01/2012 (5411 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Former Brandon mayor Rick Borotsik said if the city tax and property assessment increase remains as high as it is, it will impact the economic growth of the city.
“If they want to increase taxes by 15 per cent, that’s (city council’s) choice,” Borotsik said. “Is it going to help, in my opinion, Brandon’s ability to attract new businesses, I’d have to say no. If I were a businessman looking at relocating and see a council that can arbitrarily raise my taxes by 15 per cent in one year, I’m going to rethink that relocation.”
The increase also has an impact on home buyers, said Brandon Real Estate Board president Michael Barrett.
“For buyers looking for mortgage financing to buy their home, this will affect the price they can afford to pay for their home to meet debt service ratios,” Barrett said. “If more is spent on taxes, less can be spent on principal and interest.”
A spokeswoman for Manitoba Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade Minister Peter Bjornson said it’s premature to determine whether Brandon’s tax increase will have an impact because Brandon City Council can still review the budget.
“Ultimately, the school division and city politicians are accountable to their own electorate for the taxation decisions they make,” government spokeswoman Rachel Morgan said.
“A decade ago. Manitoba had among the highest residential property taxes in Canada. After factoring the government’s increases to the education property tax credit, they are among the lowest according to Statistics Canada.”
Morgan added Manitobans will save $332 million because of property tax reductions.
» kborkowsky@brandonsun.com