**UPDATE: "Please note that thanks to the March 27th funding announcement from CityWest, the proposed tax increase has been reduced from 15.7% to 13.4% after accounting for new revenues.
Our Budget Simulation Tool has been updated to account for this change, but the Budget Document will still retain the draft increase.
This year’s draft budget now includes a proposed 13.4% increase to the tax rate for all non-capped rates in order to retain the community's existing level of service. Staff understand that in Prince Rupert and beyond, we are experiencing a period of increased inflation, driven by factors outside municipal control.
Knowing that our residents and businesses are feeling these impacts across all different categories of their budgets, every effort has been made to keep the recommended increase to the tax rate to only what is necessary to maintain services at existing levels."
As we outlined earlier today, the CityWest announcement, is one that normally would be considered a distribution payment towards loan repayments on an outstanding loan from the days of the Monarch Cable purchase which set CityWest off on their now expansive ways.
The City's engagement portal Rupert Talks offers more information on the 2023 Budget process and includes your opportunity to provide comment towards the city's evolving plan for taxation, spending and provision of civic services.
Residents will also have two opportunities to offer guidance in person, with two Budget engagement sessions to come as part of the Regular City Council Sessions of April 11 and 24.
More notes on the Civic Budget process can be reviewed from our archive page here.
You got to be kidding me. This city needs to look at cost reductions to its admin and operations, and focus on nothing but critical municipal business. Look around our town, look at the wages and cost overruns at city hall. There is no excuse for this. Time to clean house in ivory tower
ReplyDeleteSerious question: how would you reduce wages at City Hall? Would you terminate salaried employees? If so, would it be the homegrown person doing triple duty as corporate admin, deputy corporate admin, and HR? Or would it be the other homegrown person doing trip duty overseeing public works, intergovernmental relations, and Watson Island?
DeleteThere’s a huge problem in this town when the 3rd largest port in Canada is paying more in bonuses than in taxes, while our city is stuck with shouldering the burden on their behalf
"oh there was pushback for our tax increase! We better lower it from 15 to 13% to make the public happy"
ReplyDeleteAccording to the City financials, the last time Citywest paid a dividend was $1 million in 2009. Since then it has made repayments on its long-term debt to the City, but it has not paid dividends.
ReplyDeleteIn the past the City's senior managers comprised most of the board, so there was accountability to the mayor and council. But that is no longer the case. The majority of the board is now former City employees and there are no current employees. It's little wonder that they are guided by what they think is "the right thing to do".
It's good that the mayor and council have successfully lobbied for substantial grants from the Province, and that senior management is working on an appeal of the assessments on which the Port's PILT is calculated. The Port tax cap remains priority issue, although difficult. Profits from Watson Island appear to be channelled through Legacy Corporation in an effective manner to support the City's capital projects. It looks like the City leadership is managing a lot of things well or at least as well as can be expected.
However, the City leadership really needs to get a handle on Citywest. It appears to be run essentially as an independent business, but unlike any other business it has the luxury of paying what it wants, when it wants, without any public accountability. The City should be setting a clear schedule for Citywest to pay down its long-term debt, and as the shareholder's representatives the City council should be expressing what dividends it expects Citywest management to be working towards and paying.
It's disappointing that CityWest has reduced their payment by by spreading it over two years. The council should look in to what's going on there.
ReplyDeleteIt’s disappointing that the PRPA has reduced their payment by appealing it over 10 years. The Feds should look into what’s going on.
DeleteCitywest and the Port are separate issues. For what it's worth, I'm disappointed in both of them. Citywest pays whatever it feels like and avoids committing itself, and the Port has gone to some lengths to pay less. They both rest on their laurels but could do better.
DeleteIt’s disappointing that the city doesn’t understand the PILT appeal process. It hasn’t changed since 2011.
DeletePRPA reports to Transport Canada. PILT disputes are through Procurement Canada.
I’m no city CFO and I figured this out.
There were two NCR articles in January about the PILT appeal process. There was an article on 9 January about a City management report saying that there would be an appeal of the PILT calculation to the federal Dispute Appeal Panel that you are referring to. That is clearly an appropriate next step that hopefully the City has now taken or is about to.
DeleteManagement had also been asked to report on PRPA executive compensation, which is irrelevant to a Dispute Advisory Panel review. The review looks at the appraisal information that the federal agency, in this case PRPA, used to calculate the PILT. There was a follow up NCR article on 11 January about the Port's response, which mostly focused on the executive compensation issue.
There is a tendency to go off on tangents, expressing indignation and outrage, rather than actually focusing on the problem, which in this case is: what appraisal information was used to calculate the PILT and was the property value calculation correct? The Dispute Advisory Panel is qualified to consider the appraisal and calculation issues. They don't concern themselves with political narratives and people being upset with other topics. The City needs to focus on the property appraisals that were used to calculate the PILT.
Mayor of Rightville right there.
DeleteTwo seasoned politicians on their way out the door made an egregious error in using compensation as a strategy. It has now become a community wedge issue and is a complete distraction.
Our city needs to focus on the PILT process and distance themselves from the continued community PRPA rhetoric.
Previous PILT disputes in Ottawa, Cold Lake, Montreal and Halifax show that the process works.
But it is a long road to get there. Up to a decade in some cases.
I’m sorry but waiting a decade for the feds and the courts to settle is a terrible process to suggest.
DeleteThats 10 years of tax increases and mounting legal bills to fight it, borne by mr and mrs homeowner and business owner.
How’s this: the PRPA stops aggressively appealing its valuations downward? Problem solved.
PS. Hard to miss folks up at 5AM obsessing over this issue trying to find ways to make the PRPA look good….
"Two seasoned politicians on their way out the door made an egregious error in using compensation as a strategy"
Delete*checks notes* wrong. the two young guys had been out of office for nearly 3 months...
*checks notes again* the City got largest ever invested from the Province only 2 months after that release. Plus a commitment directly from the Premiers mouth to negotiate a fair outcome between port, ILWU, and City. Hardly seems like an error based on outcome...
*insert opinion now* Herb is proving to be a very shrewd politician between calling the local state of emergency and then building alliances with the provincial NDP despite his prior partisan affiliations. Results!
"Plus a commitment directly from the Premiers mouth to negotiate a fair outcome between port, ILWU, and City."
ReplyDeleteAnd what negotiations would those be? Please tell us more.
No clue, they are the ones in the room. But that’s what Eby said at the press conference .
DeleteOne of the most common examples of confirmation bias is how people seek out or interpret news stories. People are more likely to believe a story if it confirms their pre-existing views, even if the evidence presented is shaky or inconclusive.
DeleteIt looks like a few dots too many are being connected up.
Delete"PS. Hard to miss folks up at 5AM obsessing over this issue trying to find ways to make the PRPA look good…."
ReplyDeleteA lot of people are at their sharpest early in the morning. Give it a try ....
If that 5AM commentary was your ‘sharpest’, we are all certainly eager to hear your 5PM ruminations
DeleteI'm glad to hear that you look forward to my comments.
Delete