THE COST OF LIVING CONTINUES TO RISE

Councils need to sharpen pencils to keep any hike in property taxes reasonable

It seems that every one I talk to these days thinks everything is more expensive and that their salaries don’t seem to be keeping up with those rising costs. I totally agree. Your food budget doesn’t seem to go as far as it used to, partly due to rising transportation costs as well as our weak dollar; there’s an increase in school fees and daycare costs, more money for insurance premiums, for electricity and other utilities and of course, the big one, a lot more for gas at the pump. Living off the island means you really don’t have a choice, you need a car, at least for some of the time, so it’s a big part of a family’s budget. Add the rising cost of credit and that mortgage you might have to renegotiate this year and you’re wondering where the money is going to come from. Being disciplined and reining in the budget is needed more than ever. For those who own their own homes, there’s another biggie and that’s the yearly property tax bill. In 2019, there’s a new three-year property tax assessment roll for Off-Island towns and it’s indicating that most towns are seeing an increase in the value of their residential properties. Nice to know your home is going up in value but that can also result in an increase in property taxes unless town councils make the decision to adjust the mill rate used to calculate municipal tax bills. With this option, an increase in a home’s valuation will not substantially be reflected in an average tax bill. Being a former town councillor, I know it’s a real challenge not to increase the budget year after year. Every council wants to offer the best programs and services to its citizens but if you are to bring in a fiscally responsible budget without substantial increases, then you have to put aside the “nice-to-haves,” the wish lists, the “asks” by employees, etc. and focus on the “must haves,” the real needs, and put the rest on the back burner. It’s not easy I know, as the town also has to pay more for the things we all pay more for, utilities, paving, gas for the rolling stock. The Municipalités régionales de comté (MRC) and other levels of government want their piece of the pie as well, and every year it seems that they want a bigger slice. So, while councils, together with their administrations, are fine-tuning their 2019 budget before presenting it to their citizens sometime in December, I hope that they are hard at work sharpening their pencils and will be depositing a fiscally prudent budget. It’s probably wishful thinking to expect a decrease in taxes, but if there is an increase, I hope it would be nothing more than the increase in the cost of living. I’m sure there would be a collective sigh of relief from homeowners, if that’s the case.