Increased farm land taxes chief concern in southwest Westman

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This article was published 19/10/2018 (2724 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the election next week the recent rise in property tax has affected farmers across Westman, becoming a key issue among reeve candidates.

“Farm land has been assessed, and in almost every case of higher value,” current Two Borders Reeve Debbie McMechan said. At the same time, the municipality was hit with a change to the tax portion paid by farm land in comparison to industrial and residential areas — the latter two going down in their assessments while the farm land went up.

The usual remedy — the mill rate — proved ineffective with the other areas of taxation, creating a crunch on farm land taxes, McMechan said.

A blended mill rate that encompasses all of Two Borders is also wanted by constituents, McMechan said — a process council has been pursuing.

“We couldn’t get an agreement at the table.”

Gaining a shared mill rate across the municipality instead of the current four areas is also of critical importance, Two Borders reeve candidate William McKinney said.

One of the larger obstacles facing Two Borders is the recovery from floods that have hit the RM several times since 2011. The latest damage from a flood in 2017 is still being repaired.

Like Two Borders, the increasing tax being placed on farm land has been an important issue, along with maintenance and improvement to infrastructure, incumbent Municipality of Grassland Reeve Blair Woods said.

Farm land taxation is proving especially difficult even in light of a lowered mill rate.

“Something needs to be adjusted,” Woods said.

Accountability needs to be the No. 1 concern in the election, paired with responsibility and cost effective spending, said Grasslands reeve candidate Nick Nosazek, citing how residents have not seen effective use of their tax dollars in the community.

The topic of growing and developing the community has been an important topic in the Town of Virden, which will be having its first mayoral election in more than 20 years.

One of two mayoral candidates, Brock Koop, said that water and street maintenance has been the biggest concern in the community, along with growing recreational facilities.

Growing recreation facilities will help encourage families to move to the area said Koop, along with providing effective health care and schooling.

Fellow mayoral candidate Murray Wright did not respond by press time.

The RM of Wallace-Woodworth has a three-way race, with reeve candidates calling for increased transparency and accountability of council, candidate Sandy Heaman said. The municipality will also be voting on a cannabis plebiscite in the election.

The issue of accountability has proven especially important in light of the increased property taxes faced by constituents.

“The goal is sound financial decisions that are efficient,” Heaman said, describing what is needed in the next council.

Having been personally effected by the rising taxes, rival reeve candidate Vince Heaman has been watching the financial happenings in the community, and has been disappointed in some of the decisions made. His own farm saw taxes jump by more than 50 per cent, while he has failed to get anything in return.

“We need to see value,” Heaman said.

He cited the recent purchase of a gravel pit in the municipality as an example of reckless spending by current council.

Changes to the RM’s spending and development will help nurture a community that will flourish, he said.

Wallace-Woodworth reeve candidate Clayton Canart is looking to inject youth into council, bringing new and fresh ideas to the forefront.

Canart, 35, said that road maintenance, like many other municipalities, is an important issue, along with the recent land assessments for farms going up.

With the number of candidates running for reeve and council, Canart said it is a healthy sign of democracy in action, especially in light of the cannabis plebiscite.

“I’m just happy to see elections. I think it gives people a choice.”

» ckemp@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp

 

Brenda-Waskada

Head of Council- Roland Hainsworth

Jordan Morningstar

Ward 1-Donna Stewart

Ward 2- Kelly Guenther

Ward 3- David Vanmackelbergh

Ward 4- Kirsty Mann

Ward 5- Justin Hatt

Sterling Jolly

 

Boissevain-Morton

Mayor- Judy Swanson

At Large- Elmer McCallum

Rob Adams

Lonnie Graham

R. George Heide

Lloyd Leganchuk

Rhonda Coupland

Amanda Racine

Eric Reichert

Doug Robertson

David Stead

Doug Troke

 

Deloraine-Winchester

Reeve- Lloyd Carey

Gordon Weidenhamer

Ward 1- Debbie Adams

Ward 2- John Gustafon

Jerry Redden

Ward 3- Duane Edwards

Ward 4- H. Cliff Kirkwood

Sara Rommelaere

Allan Szoradi

Ward 5- Dawna Tompsett

Ward 6- Stu Clelland

Danette Vancauwenberghe

 

Grassland

Reeve- Nick Nosazek

Blair Woods

LUD of Elgin- Jaye Cameron

Gray Enns

Cecile McMurray

Wayne Penonzek

LUD of Minto- Terry Campbell

Blair Stewart

Greg Workman

Ward 1- Scott Hunt

Claude Martin

Ewan Mosby

Ward 2- Ron Bodin

Bruce Evans

Coral Millar

Chris Mills

Ward 3- Debra James-Nielson

Dan LaChapelle

Ruth Mealy

Bob Miller

John Sparrow

 

Melita

Mayor- William (Bill) Holden

At Large- Eric Forster

Grant Hume

Matthew Judd

Jocelyn Skeleton

Raymond Smithson

Brian Teetaert

 

Pipestone

Reeve- Archie McPherson

LUD of Reston- Barb Schiltroth

Ward 1- James Watt

Ward 2- Amanda Isaac

Garnet Williamson

Ward 3- Sean Kirkpatrick

Gary Nicholson

Ward 4- Randy Henuset

Ward 5- Sheila Kotylak

Ward 6- Lane Wanless

 

Riverdale

Mayor- Todd Gill

At Large- David Falkevitch

Ian Dyer

Ken Tait

Cam White

David Creighton

Everett Smith

Alastair McFadden

 

Sifton

Reeve- Cyril Druwe

Ward 1- Rick Gabrielle

Clement Gervais

Tara Kenning Larway

Russell Thiessen

Larry Wallace

Ward 2- Stan Cochrane

Wilson Davis

Scott Phillips

Ward 3- Ron Enns Jr.

Mark Houston

Reg Morcombe

Dave Roulette

Jeff Sigurdson

Souris-Glenwood

Mayor- Darryl Jackson

Rural- Donald J. Brown

Doug Denning

Detlef Eissner

Darcy Gerow

Jackie Kirkup

Urban- Sande Denbow

Bill Tanguay

 

Two Borders

Reeve-William McKinney

Debbie McMechan

LUD of Pierson- Declan Alphonso

Marnie McCutcheon

Shannon Wang

Bill Warren

Ward 1- Tom Dickson

Alan Jackson

Karen Jones

Ward 2- Donna Brown

Robert Renwick

Don Wickham

Ward 3- Sandra Clark

Mark Custance

Kevin Dekeyser

Tim McMechan

Margaret Melynchuck

James Storey

Aileen Tucker

 

Virden

Mayor- Brock Koop

Murray Wright

At Large- Tara Cowan

Grant Gardiner

Lomer Girardin

Raymond Moorehead

Karel Munchinsky

Travis Penner

Paul Rhodes

Shannon Walowetz

Tina Williams

Whitney Wright

 

Wallace-Woodworth

Reeve- Clayton Canart

Sandy Heaman

Vince Heaman

LUD of Elkhorn- Riley Brennand

Kevin Tutthill

LUD of Kenton- Robert Good

Dennis Hemrica

Robert Lake

Ward 1(Old Woodworth)- Valerie Caldwell

Darren Good

Diana MacDonald

Rodney Pearn

Ward 2 (Old Wallace)- Adam Bajus

Mark R. Humphries

Rea Kinnaird

Gregory J. Penner

Barb Stambuski

Ward 3 (Elkhorn)- Denis LaChapelle

 

Whitehead (results declared)

Reeve- Allan Sutherland

LUD of Alexander- Julie Bean

Mary Jo Matthews

Tom Maxwell

Ward 1- Christopher Semeschuk

Darryl Speers

Trevor Tuttosi

Ward 2- Tammy Black

John Bokkel

Wayne Dobbie