Global News article
It is only recently that a piece done by Global News on March 21 of this year, entitled, “Some N.B. municipalities angered by extra property tax pamphlet, Union says” came to my attention and it cries out for a response to the politicians mentioned in the article.
An incredible complaint
I find it incredible that any municipality, never mind the Union, would feel the need to complain about the Province including a tax bill insert stating that the municipalities are the ones who set the rates on the municipal portion of New Brunswickers’ property tax bills, as this is simply a fact.
The complaint sounded an awful lot like municipalities not wanting the public to be reminded of whose responsibility those municipal tax rates are (hint: it’s the municipalities themselves). After all, it’s much easier to blame rising assessments and the assessors’ valuations. As an assessor with Service New Brunswick, I was, of course, on the other side of those ratepayer complaints, so I have no problem with the Province reminding people as to where their ire should actually be directed.
Other provinces...
Elsewhere in Canada, municipal councils have no problem lowering their tax rates to offset overall assessment increases, but a former assessment colleague advised me that that there has been no “culture” in NB for municipalities to do that (“culture”?!! – I thought “culture” was song and history, not bloody tax rates). In those other provinces, it’s the municipal budget that’s under the microscope, as well it should be, with the tax rate simply reflecting budgetary need in any given year. Assessment is an administrative function and should not be part of the political conversation.
Munis should make the budgetary case for tax increases
As a former municipal official, I understand all too clearly how costs can increase and I would certainly not want to be in your shoes making some tough decisions after the recent municipal restructuring. However, if your costs are increasing, I believe you have a responsibility to look your ratepayers in the eye and tell them where costs are increasing and why. Make the budgetary case for your tax rate (the Province should do the same with their portion, but that is a topic for another time).
Instead, it seems that municipalities in New Brunswick would rather pad their revenues by the stealth method of leaving tax rates where they are, or lowering them just a little, and then blame tax increases on increased assessments. This is poor, unaccountable public policy and grossly unfair to the people in Assessment who are simply trying to get the valuations right.
Opposition MLAs off base, too
I also found the comments by the two MLAs to be absolutely wrong and unwarranted. Both Mr. Legacy and Mr. Arseneau (who is my MLA and for whom I otherwise have a great deal of respect and appreciation) speak of the insert as somehow disrespectful or harmful to the working relationship between the Province and municipal councils.
Why? For telling the truth and making sure citizen-ratepayers know who’s responsible for what? For holding municipal councils accountable for that part of taxation for which they are responsible? How is this “disingenuous” in any way?
It's about time people understood who is responsible for what
In my view, it’s about time that the Province started providing information like that in this property tax pamphlet insert and I would hope to see a lot more of it. It is time for the “culture” of not lowering tax rates to offset assessment increases find its way to the scrap heap and for all politicians who set tax rates, whether provincial or municipal, be held accountable to the people who pay the freight by justifying their budgetary expenses.
Want to understand our property assessment and taxation system better and make it work to your advantage?
See my new book:
Taxing New Brunswick: An Insider’s Guide to Successfully Challenging Your NB Property Assessment (available on Amazon)
“Stealth, culture, accountability”…..who knew these three words could be related?
Jerry, this essay should open some eyes and, for some folks, cause uneasiness. Nicely done.
Thanks, Don – I hate to sound like one of those “come-from-away” people who thinks all things are better elsewhere, but this is one thing that Alberta does quite well. Not perfectly (especially with regard to the education requisition that the municipalities have to collect), but quite well overall. If you look at articles in Alberta about municipal finances, they’re almost always about the budget requisition. Here in NB, the articles are always primarily about the assessment first and tax rates second. Budgetary requirements are rarely brought up. “Culture…”
Long time since I seen an article, that did not leave me feeling like something sticking out of my back when finished reading it. Hope many read, comprehend and do something about it.
Glad you saw it that way, Jeff; thanks for the positive observation. There are a lot of problems with the assessment and taxation system in NB – the boots-on-the-ground assessors are not one of them.