Region collecting too much taxes: Konc
Betty Konc can’t help wondering if the Region is getting fat on Wainfleet’s dime.
The Wainfleet alderman said new figures showing the Region finished 2017 awash in millions of dollars while Niagara’s cities and towns struggle to pay for crucial infrastructure such as public buildings, roads and sewers, leaves her questioning if the Region — which accounts for upwards of half of each property tax dollar in total in Niagara — is taxing places such as Wainfleet more than it should be.
Region chief administrative officer Carmen D’Angelo told a regional committee in March that the upper-tier municipality finished 2017 with a net surplus on its $1billion budget of about $17 million, and that the Region has total reserves of about $276 million.
Konc told fellow Wainfleet council members on March 27 she was at Port Colborne city council recently when David Barrick, that city’s regional councillor who is also chair of the Region’s budget committee, was questioned by city councillors over Niagara Regional Police finishing 2017 with a deficit of $2.3 million.
Barrick, who is also on the police services board, said the Region — which funds the NRP — has ample cash to cover that shortfall. “Quite frankly, the Region is flush with cash,” he said. “They have more than $140 million in reserves.”
Konc questioned if the Region has its hand out too far.
“I’m shocked at those numbers,” she said of the Region’s surplus and reserves. “I think their reserves are far too high. What the heck are they doing with all that money? I honestly do believe they’re over-levying us.”
Konc — she has announced she will be running to become Port Colborne’s mayor in the fall election — said cities and towns in Niagara face a big infrastructure crunch, noting sparsely populated Wainfleet has a shortfall of about $1.2 million on its building maintenance. Convincing the Region to chop its share of the overall property tax bill from about 46 per cent to about 40 per cent could give town and city councils financial breathing room, she said.
“If they’re keeping it here for a rainy day, that rainy day is already here for most of the municipalities when it comes to infrastructure,” Konc said. “Nobody seems to know just exactly where the money is going and what they’re doing with it.”
Wainfleet corporate services manager Adam Cross said it’s not uncommon for governments such as the Region to sock money away in reserves to help pay for what can be expensive infrastructure projects down the road.
It’s common for municipal governments to finance infrastructure projects by borrowing money much like mortgages to buy homes.
Cross said it’s common for development charges applied to new developments to help pay growth-related costs such as additional ambulances and police to be collected for specific types of projects and to remain in reserve funds until it’s time for those projects to get underway.
“Obviously, optically it does look like they’re (Region) taking in more money than they need to pay out,” he said.
“But you have to remember some of those (infrastructure) costs are coming down the pipe.”
Konc said the township should seek financial compensation from the Region.
“I’m suggesting this council make a stand and say: ‘You’ve got to give us some of this money back—some of it, all of it, part of it,’” she said.
At a recent regional committee meeting, Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton said while it’s important for the Region to have adequate funding set aside for projects, it’s important not to over-tax residents or overcharge on development charges.
Caslin said at that meeting that new figures showing the Region has only raised regional property taxes 1.48 per cent per year on average over the past four years is “fantastic results.”