Parties need to take firm stand on CAP program

To the editor:

The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities is conducting an intense and secretive campaign to convince our Provincial MLAS to cancel the Provincial Capped Assessment Program (CAP).

The CAP initiative is meant to prevents spikes in assessment by capping the assessments based on the consumer price index and set a limit on the increases towns, cities and rural municipalities can use in property tax calculations.

Connie Nolan of the Association of Municipal Administrators said that the CAP system should be phased out. It’s expected provincial legislation leading to the elimination of the CAP will come later this year.

This federation is also trying to convince any taxpayers who hear of their campaign, that taxpayers are at a real disadvantage by getting tax relief under the Capped Assessment Program and how The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities is trying to “save” us from the evils of the program.

This group is so desperate to grab as much money as they can from Nova Scotia taxpayers, that they are trying to pit the taxpayers whose properties are covered under CAP against those whose properties do not qualify under the program.

When have you, as a property taxpayer, heard of any city, town, municipality or the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, which all Nova Scotia municipalities are members of, come up with a plan to lower your property taxes?

This is a greedy tax grab that must be stopped in its tracks.

Unless taxpayers want a substantial increase in property taxes, remembering that this will not be a one-time tax increase but a continuing tax increase, it is up to us to contact and advise our MLAS that we know about this tax-grabbing lobby effort by the Union of Municipalities and to impress on her/him the importance of keeping this program intact if they want our vote.

All three major political parties and leaders were contacted and asked if they supported The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities on their lobbying efforts to abolish the Provincial Capped Assessment Program (CAP).

Not one of the three major Nova Scotia political parties officially stated their Party was backing the taxpayers/voters on this issue by pledging to keep the Capped Assessment Program.

Only the Nova Scotia PC Party replied, and they fudged on whether they would support the abolition of the program.

The Liberal and NDP party offices and their leaders ignored more than five different e-mail requests.

All but one of the N. S. Liberal MLAS’ offices refused to answer any questions unless it was from one of their constituents. I assume that we, mere taxpayers, are to be ignored by the non-respondents unless they are looking for donations and our vote during an election, which bears remembering.

Considering the fragile state of our Provincial Government and an election in the near future, voters must drive home to politicians that if they refuse to back taxpayers/voters by siding with The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities lobby group, they do so at their great electoral peril.

Most councils treat the taxpayers as bottomless wells of funds. If existing council members cannot manage their fiscal responsibilities under the existing provincial laws and legislated taxpayer protection programs such as CAP, perhaps they should let someone else take their place at the next elections.

Gérard Gagnon,

East Chester