City’s 9.4% tax hike blamed on past inaction

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This article was published 06/02/2024 (590 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon University professor says the 9.4 per cent tax increase in the City of Brandon’s 2024 budget is a result of the bill coming due for past years of infrastructure deficits.

With 2024 the first year that Brandon implemented a four-year budgeting process, the next few years are predicted to be similarly difficult with the Wheat City projected to need an 11.7 per cent increase in tax revenue in 2025, 10.1 per cent in 2026 and 10 per cent in 2027. Since that’s an overall increase in revenues, increases to the assessed values of property in Brandon will likely mean the required property tax increases will be lower.

Doug Ramsey, a geography professor in rural development, said that in the almost 25 years he has lived in Brandon, he has been watching as the city’s roads have developed potholes and the Keystone Centre’s outdoor pool was lost while council passed small tax increases.

Before and after Brandon passed its 2024 budget, city representatives made comments asking for higher levels of government to contribute more after years of low funding and freezes, but Ramsey said it’s not that simple.

“You want to build, you’re interested in a project and you’re willing to put $10 into it,” Ramsey said. “But you want your friends and your neighbours to each put $40 in? You can’t say that, you can’t not raise taxes or raise them … below inflation and then go cap in hand to another level of government and say ‘we’re broke.’ You have to invest in yourself first.”

The professor said this year’s increase is a first step toward the city investing in itself and righting the financial ship.

With future years promising more tough fiscal decisions, Ramsey said Brandon should be open and honest about how it is spending the extra funds it is asking of its residents, whether it’s for roads, the Sportsplex, Keystone Centre, debt relief or anything else.

He said his hometown in southern Ontario went through a similar experience, having to close public facilities like museums and arenas before its council bit the bullet and started to implement higher tax increases.

“They seem to have things under control, but it took a few years of these increases to get back in a position where the system was sustainable,” Ramsey said. “I mean, I’m afraid to drive on 18th Street (in Brandon). I know that’s a provincial road, but there are other streets that are bad as well, and it’s only going to get worse unless we start investing in this stuff.”

Lois Ruston, the recently appointed president of the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, expressed concern over the impact of the increase on businesses and said the city’s hard work is only just beginning.

“I’m certain that council would say that this weekend was a lot of hard work and I don’t doubt that it was,” Ruston said by phone.

“However, it’s taken many years for our community to get to this place financially and unfortunately, everyone is now going to be paying the price going forward to get our community to a more sustainable and proactive financial position.”

She said the chamber has been calling for larger, more gradual tax increases than the small ones the city has implemented for years and noted that an MNP report issued in December 2023 showed that path was no longer sustainable.

“Unfortunately, this year’s tax increase is only a piece of the pie that local businesses will be experiencing,” Ruston said. “The Province of Manitoba has just announced that they’ll allow school divisions to increase taxes, which is another significant impact on top of increased (utility) rates.”

Other factors businesses are facing, she said, include likely increases to Brandon’s development cost charges, high interest rates and continuing inflation. Ruston said the chamber plans to meet with the Brandon School Division to discuss potential education property tax increases soon.

After city administration had proposed delaying funding for the Park Community Centre reconstruction to 2025 with uncertainty surrounding the province’s contribution to the project, board member Eldon Schmitz praised council’s decision to put it back in the 2024 budget.

“We’re ready to go here, just about,” Schmitz said in a phone interview. “We have funding to rebuild Park completely now, get the daycare on line, figure out the funding for it and find an operator. Co-op has given us $100,000 to use, we’ve got it in our bank account already. We don’t want to put them off for another year — it puts everything in jeopardy.”

He said the NDP has committed to the board that it will include the province’s $1-million share of the project in this year’s provincial budget. However, a provincial press secretary told the Sun on Monday that the government is still going through the budgetary process and has not determined the timing yet, though the project is still a priority.

Zach Munn, the president of Brandon Area Realtors, said in an email that this year’s budget could influence the local real estate market.

“The rise could affect affordability and buyer behaviour, potentially influencing investment choices and the overall economic health of the community,” Munn wrote.

“As a Brandon resident, I hope any adverse effects on the City of Brandon will be minimal. Looking ahead, maintaining healthy reserves, exploring grants and alternative funding sources, minimizing proposed development charges, offering quality public services and assessing opportunities for cost savings can collectively enhance Brandon’s appeal for both investors and residents.”

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities sent a statement saying that with municipalities managing 60 per cent of infrastructure in the country and being the only level of government required legally to run balanced budgets, it’s time for higher levels of government to pay their fair share.

“That is why the AMM has joined the call of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities along with municipal associations across Canada about the need to develop a modernized Municipal Growth Framework so municipalities can keep up with the demands of economic and population growth and evolving service delivery mandates,” an AMM spokesperson wrote.

This year’s budget also includes $50,000 to establish a program that will help pay for students to go to medical school in exchange for them pledging to serve in Brandon after graduation.

In an email, Prairie Mountain Health CEO Brian Schoonbaert expressed interest in partnering with the city on the file.

“We have partnered with communities on various initiatives and there is continued engagement with health-care partners and stakeholders to look at additional ways to attract health-care professionals to work in our region,” Schoonbaert wrote.

“We have had discussions with the City of Brandon about recruitment and retention possibilities in the past. The doctor recruitment program being proposed by the city is sincerely appreciated, and we look forward to learning more details about the initiative.”

Another item in the budget was $50,000 to create a similar program with Assiniboine Community College to help train and recruit heavy equipment operators and mechanics.

By email, a college spokesperson said Brandon had not reached out yet about forming a partnership, but the college is “always interested in finding ways to help community partners meet their labour market needs.”

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