Almost three weeks ago, we ran a front-page story headlined “Burnaby holds tax hike to 1.5 per cent.”
The story detailed that the 2018 tax hike was about half the average increase of the last three years and half of what the hike is anticipated to be in each of the next four years.
The story also noted that the last time there was such a low tax hike was in 2014 – which, like 2018, was a municipal election year.
Here’s that info:
Annual Burnaby property tax increases (in per cent):
2014: 1.97
2015: 2.98
2016: 2.65
2017: 2.95
2018: 1.5
2019 to 2022 (projected):
3.0 per year
Coun. Pietro Calendino said: “I don’t think we’ve seen a 1.5 per cent increase in a number of years in Burnaby. We worked hard to get it down.”
Calendino said increased revenues from new development in the town centres resulted in revenues that allowed the city to reduce the tax hike.
But, really, is it a coincidence that the council who wants your support and vote in the upcoming municipal election in October has also decided to keep the tax hike down in the same year?
We suppose we cannot prove the financial decision had any political thought behind it. We doubt that someone from the financial department or an elected official will actually confim that’s a key part of the reason for keeping the tax hike down this year. And, of course, a reasonable person could presume that a council up for election would want to impress upon its electorate how fiscally responsible it is, and keeping taxes down is one way to do that.
And who can blame the politicians?
They want to get re-elected, and, since they’re the only game in town, they can make decisions that put the very best fiscal spin on things.
Let’s face it, the average voter will gladly take any low tax hike to the bank and, perhaps, to the ballot box.
And, after all, the Greens are now promising a tax freeze for the next two years, saying the city has been over-taxing its residents.
So, it’s basically a bidding war for your vote.
If that’s the case, perhaps it will encourage voters to look at more than just tax hikes when they go to the ballot box in October.
We can only hope.
