Taxes have long been a sore spot among Black Diamond residents and the candidates for this month’s municipal byelection plan to get to the bottom of it.
Each of the four candidates are sharing their ideas to make taxes more affordable as the Aug. 22 municipal byelection in Black Diamond approaches.
Mayoral candidate Leslie Miller said he is hearing a lot about taxes as he goes door to door.
“The overall consensus at the moment is that for a town of our size they’re high,” he said. “Until we get on the inside we don’t have all the answers and we don’t have a good scope, but it appears we have a problem and we need to approach that problem in a very disciplined way.”
While municipal taxes dropped slightly the past two years, some years saw tax hikes in the double digits, such as in 2013 where business taxes increased by 12.3 per cent and residential by 8.5 per cent.
Miller said there needs to be better communication between council and taxpayers to provide a better understanding of what residents are willing to pay for.
“In my time here there hasn’t been many public meetings,” he said. “If we open up the data that the town has to the public so they see where their money is being spent, they can say maybe we don’t need this or maybe we need something else. Lets find out what that something else costs and are you willing to pay for it.”
Miller said open forums could be held on specific topics, such as paving.
“There is still a lot of unpaved roads,” he said. “What would be the implications of doing that financially and should we do it now and get it over with or should we space it out? It’s that balance approach rather than fix one at the expense of something else.”
Brian Marconi, who is running for a councillor seat, said he often hears complaints that Black Diamond’s taxes are too high and he is concerned that if word gets out people won’t move to town.
Marconi, who works for a local home builder, said some residents are paying as much as $5,500 a year in property taxes for a 1,475 square foot newer home, but that could be alleviated by making Town operations more efficient and budgeting differently.
“This town is approving a budget six months into the fiscal year,” he said. “You’ve got to start your budgeting process one month before your fiscal year starts and get it approved before everyone knows how much they are allowed to spend.”
Marconi added that each year’s budget should start at zero, rather than basing it on the previous year. He said this would eliminate wasteful spending.
Another area of concern for Marconi is the Town’s use of reserve funds for projects like public transit.
“Where is the business case that this is a good idea?” he said. “What are the operating expenses going to be?”
In addition to looking closer at spending, Marconi said he wants the Town to meet with administration in Nobleford, which he said has the lowest municipal taxes in Alberta.
“If I get elected that would be one of my first things is going down there with the CAO and seeing what they do,” he said.
Glen Fagan, who is running for mayor, shares many of the same views as Marconi on tax reduction. Both are members of the Black Diamond Concerned Taxpayers Group. Fagan said costs can be cut through operational efficiencies.
“It doesn’t mean cutting people, it means finding better ways to do the functions we perform in this town on a regular basis,” he said.
Fagan said when he asked Town administration for a report on its reserve funds, he learned it took six hours for the information to be compiled.
“In the world that I work in, I would produce that every month and it would take no more than 15 minutes,” he said.
“The time applied to that could be better applied to other things. There should be a better way of doing that.”
Fagan added he’s concerned that the Town has $8 million in reserves built up over the years, saying he feels residents were overtaxed to start with. He is also concerned with council’s plan to increase non-residential taxes to incorporate 20 per cent of the tax base.
“If you are not increasing the number of businesses contributing to it you are going to impact the business operations,” he said. “That increase should only happen as a result of growth.”
Fagan said high taxes can be offset by growth in the community.
“If 10 houses are sold, 10 houses worth of taxation revenue should reduce taxes across the board,” he said.
Council candidate Dave Geske wants to see more public input on financial decisions.
“We need an open forum to discuss expenses, budgeting process and financial management,” he said. “Part of open government is open data. You need to get the data and the reasons behind the data. What we spent it on, how much we spent and why should be a discussion with citizens.
“That also gives you the chance to do idea solicitation from everybody. Citizens should be making some of these decisions. It becomes a system of inputs, feedback and outputs.”
Geske agrees taxes are too high in Black Diamond and said they need to be addressed in a disciplined way.
“(Residents) are feeling the effects of the economy now,” he said. “I’ve been there, trying to raise a family while the taxes and other expenses are going through the roof. We need to guard the public purse the same way that you guard your own purse at home.”
Geske said he would also like to see a full review of the Town’s operating expenditures and financial management, but everything needs to start with culture.
“The culture in Black Diamond is already one of volunteerism and engagement and we need to harness that and we need to do it in balance with everything else,” he said. “It establishes the way we work and the things that we do when nobody is watching.
“Culture needs to get defined at the top and permeate through the organization.”
