Morinville residents have until Oct. 18 to decide who will represent them on town council. In the second instalment of a three-part series, the Gazette asked candidates for their views on the towns' taxes and utility rates.
Reponses are edited only for spelling, grammar and length. The Gazette does not vouch for the accuracy of candidates' statements.
Question . . .
Over the last three years, Morinville property taxes increased by 9.5 per cent, 5.5 per cent and four per cent, yet municipal property taxes are still among the lowest in the region.
Seeking to have the system obtain full cost recovery, the current council has also substantially increased utility rates over their term, making them the highest in the region according to a City of Edmonton survey,
What would you do to ensure Morinville keeps its tax advantage and do you favour the strategy the town has pursued to have utility rates reflect full cost recovery?
Nicole Boutestein
Morinville may be perceived as having lower taxes, but we need to take a look at what we are paying versus what services are provided. How are tax dollars being spent? Who is accountable for where the money goes?
From 2009 to 2010, residential taxes increased from 5.927 per cent to 6.344 per cent. However, due to decreased assessment values, monies collected actually went down.
To partially offset this, utility rates in 2009 to 2010 increased roughly $93.12 per year per household. Not a significant increase — much easier to digest than a hike in property taxes. However, continued increases without extra services will be perceived by many to be a money grab. What extra value can residents expect? Increasing yard waste pickup from bimonthly to weekly or bringing back the in-town composting station should be looked at.
Morinville has to be more accountable in how tax revenue is spent. A more fiscally responsible approach has to be looked at, not simply putting the onus back on residents.
Read more about Boustein here.
Jackie Luker-Chevalier
We all know it costs money to run the town, have facilities, programs and social services. If our current tax system works to generate the income required for Morinville to operate then I think we should maintain our current tax advantage, at least until the business sector grows to increase its tax base contribution.
Would it be nice to lower taxes? Absolutely. Can we lower taxes and still produce the income we need to run the town effectively? I don't know but it's a question I would certainly investigate once I'm elected.
Do I agree with the increase in utility rates? No. Are there other alternatives to increasing utility rates? Sure there are but until the ideas are researched, no one will know. It's time for council to look outside the box and seek alternative ways to deal with Morinville's issues rather than just having the taxpayer dig deeper into their pockets.
Read more about Luker-Chevalier here.
Kerry Knight
I believe utility rates should reflect full cost recovery. It is necessary to prevent deficits and maintain service levels; full cost recovery creates conscious users and hopefully promotes conservation.
Read more about Knight here.
Lisa Holmes
There are several properties in all communities that pay for utilities but are exempt from paying property taxes (churches, schools, municipal properties, nursing homes, etc.)
Increasing the utility rate rather than further increasing property taxes allows the costs of the utility to be covered by those who use it and not to shift the burden of increasing costs solely to the taxpayers. The issue in this case comes from a lack of communication to the public. Our municipal leaders need to be more open about the decisions that they are making and the reasons behind them.
As well, it is extremely important to diversify our tax base and get more commercial and business investments in the town. Making this a priority will allow Morinville to have a more reliable financial position, especially in economic downturns, without relying on increasing property tax rates to provide a consistent level of service.
Read more about Holmes here.
Gordon Boddez
Morinville's taxes are among the lowest in the Edmonton region. I believe it is a priority to continue to keep our taxes as low as possible, while providing excellent services so that more people will continue to come and stay in our community. Our council has a duty to work 'closely and co-operatively' with our administration and actively listen to the voices of our residents/businesses in order to make major decisions that will affect our tax base.
With respect to utilities, I agree that our utilities are high. However, the government has requested municipalities achieve full cost recovery from utilities over the next few years. Morinville has just achieved this end. Other municipalities in our region will need to rapidly increase their utility rates to meet government requirements. As a resident of Morinville, you can be assured I will be doing my utmost to keep utility rates and property taxes as low as possible to benefit all of us.
Read more about Boddez here.
Ben Van De Walle
My platform includes a "Best-Value approach for the taxpayers' dollars," so thank you for the opportunity to respond to this question.
I believe in the principle of full cost recovery. Given that the term "full cost" means different things to different people, my focus is the conversation about how to achieve "Best Value."
My action plan includes 1) to continue to lobby council for an integrated three-year business plan with performance indicators, 2) to continue to lobby council for a quarterly budget progress report to the citizens to increase transparency and accountability, 3) to continue to lobby council for service-level accounting, budgeting and reporting to the citizens, 4) to continue to lobby council for a triple-bottom-line approach for decision-making: SEE — social (people), economic (financial) and environment (our planet) and 5) consolidate the above into something meaningful to the citizens: best value reporting framework for citizens and council.
Donna Phinney
The last three years have seen tax increases to play catch up, so to say. Some funds were desperately required to start being put into our reserves, which were drastically underfunded. The town is in pretty fair shape now since those increases.
We worked very diligently over the past few years to make sure we are collecting full cost recovery, not only for utilities but for all services. The taxpayer should not be subsidizing this. In fact, this should translate to whatever you use, you are required to pay for.
Council will have to keep the rates in line and will need to be more prudent going forward. Balancing carefully, the needs over the wants. The dollar only goes so far and all line items add up very quickly. All of council needs to be responsible and accountable for their decisions during the process of the upcoming budget, even if that means going line by line and making hard choices.
Read more about Phinney here.
David Pattison
I support utility rates reflecting full cost recovery. A report prepared by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities states that a full cost recovery plan is required for all components of water and sewage services.
Full cost recovery supports a business plan and funding approach that suits local conditions, sustains water and sewage systems in perpetuity and maintains acceptable service levels for the users of the systems. Without planning for full cost recovery, the level of service would gradually decline.
A report, updated quarterly, on the tax and development advantages Morinville offers compared to other communities should be available for prospective residents and businesses making location decisions.
The 93 to 7 residential to commercial mix Morinville has, is not conducive to a sustainable community. We have the good fortune of continuing to attract new residents. However, we have one of the lowest square footage of commercial space per capita ratios in Alberta.
Read more about Pattison here.
The Gazette did not receive a response from candidate Lucie Roy.
