Costly changes
Montrose chairman says new Municipal Government Act will prove to be more taxing to smaller municipalities like his
Dave Pizio can see property taxes in his small municipality taking a big jump without residents seeing any actual benefit from those costs.
Pizio, chairman of the Greenmount-Montrose Community Improvement Committee (CIC), says property owners currently pay a municipal tax rate of 12 cents per $100 of assessed value. He says that rate would likely go up at least to 27 cents once the new Municipal Government Act (MGA) is proclaimed and fully implemented.
One of the provisions of the act requires a municipality to maintain a minimum of 20 office hours a week. At $15 an hour, that works out to a weekly wage of $300. That’s how much Greenmount-Montrose currently pays out as an annual honorarium for its administrator.
“It gives absolutely nothing to the community in the way of services; it’s just increased administrative requirements that are directed by the new MGA,” he maintains.
Municipal affairs manager Samantha Murphy says the role of the administrator is evolving into that of an executive director and includes provisions for accountability, transparency and record-keeping.
“Just those accountability provisions, and the expectations of the public, and everything that goes along with that accountability, it’s a different role than it used to be.”
Pizio, however, feels small municipalities, such as Greenmount-Montrose, don’t provide the level of services that justify 20 hours of office time per week. Their tax rate covers the community’s fire dues and an annual grant to the community centre where they hold their meetings. The tax revenue also allowed for a pledge to the Western Hospital Equipment Fund.
Considering larger municipalities already have fulltime staff, Pizio believes the new act will prove more taxing on the smaller municipalities, as he feels some services that were handled by the province, such as building permit applications, will be shifted to the CICs.
“I consider that we’re putting in another layer of government bureaucracy to accomplish the same thing,” he added.
Bruce MacDougall, president of the Federation of P.E.I. Municipalities, said he feels for the smaller municipalities, but pointed out member municipalities large and small have agreed with the contents of the act. He noted there is lots “coming down the pipe” even from Ottawa with a new national building code and policing act changes that all municipalities will have to address.
MacDougall believes some of the smaller municipalities might have to combine.
“There’s got to be some regional government of some kind because, going forward, it’s not feasible to exist,” he suggested.
The new act refers to CICs as rural municipalities. It received royal assent in December 2016, but it still has not been proclaimed. Murphy said a lot of details, beyond the basic framework, still have to be put into regulations. The primary ones, she said, have to do with municipal elections, financial planning, procedural bylaws and standards and criteria. Once the regulations are completed, they will go out to public consultation.
It is anticipated the act will be proclaimed by fall.
She suggested the biggest change for rural municipalities will be the move to all-day election polls.
Pizio believes smaller municipalities, as well as unincorporated areas of the province, are not aware of all the new Municipal Government Act entails. He has scheduled a public meeting for this Thursday, to discuss his concerns with anyone interested. The meeting will be held at the Holland College Alberton campus at 7 p.m. on June 8.
Pizio believes the provincial government would like to see the entire province incorporated.
Murphy said the new act does not mandate boundary changes or specifically refer to unincorporated areas becoming incorporated, but she acknowledged many existing municipalities are challenged by their current size.