Question 2: What is your position on property taxes over the next term?
Dustin Brears
Taxes need to stabilize.聽 To simply rely on tax increases year over year to fund the city, is the wrong approach.聽 We need to find efficiencies and spend wisely.聽 We need to increase our number of taxpayers, rather than increase our taxes.聽 While tax increases are unavoidable in some circumstances, people are struggling to make ends meet and should not expect an increase every year.聽 I have confidence we can find ways to get taxes under control.
Ken Chyz
If the average Yorkton household was paying $2,000.00/year in taxes in 2016. With the tax increases implemented they would have paid almost $425.00 more in 2020 than they did in 2016. That works out to over 21 percent in four years. This has got to stop. I believe we need to keep taxes to minimum and if I am elected for another term, I will propose a zero percent tax increase for a minimum of one year. Going forward, depending on our economic times, we may have to continue that trend at least until we know what effects COVID-19 has on our community.
Dick DeRyk
We need to examine taxation and city fees, particularly as COVID-19 affects all aspects of our community. It鈥檚 time to carefully examine everything the city does and the money it spends. City revenues will suffer next year. You can鈥檛 collect taxes and fees from businesses that are no longer there or from families who have lost jobs or have seen their income curtailed. A zero percent tax increase does not go far enough. I propose reducing taxes to assist homeowners and business owners while we maintain essential services. With one-third of all residences in Yorkton being rental properties, along with many business locations, property tax relief needs to be done in such a way that the benefits flow through to those who pay the rent, so that our local residents and businesses get the direct benefit. It won鈥檛 be easy but can be done if the will is there.
Doug Forster
No tax increases are a risky proposition and the statement is often thrown around to attract voters into believing they won鈥檛 have to pay more than they already do, but what happens to services that we have come to expect. Will they be cut in order to save money? Can we expect to pay higher fees to make up for no tax increases? Does it mean when the dust settles, we will have an enormous increase to make up for the lack of a reasonable plan right now?聽 I believe council has to work together as a team to ensure they exhaust all options in finding dollars outside of a tax increase that will not affect our level of services, and it starts with the elimination of wasteful spending, we all have wants, but let鈥檚 concentrate on our city鈥檚 needs during these uncertain times, and work to keep taxes stable.
Randy Goulden
As a city councillor, my biggest focus on property taxes has always been ensuring value for the investment the people and businesses of Yorkton make in our community. Municipal governments don鈥檛 have a lot of options to bring in the revenue it takes to run a city, so I focus on making sure your dollars are spent wisely.
I also know the importance of building relationships to ensure Yorkton has access to funding from provincial and federal programs. My election to council, then to the Municipalities of Saskatchewan (formerly SUMA) board and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has given Yorkton a voice at the provincial and federal level. I鈥檝e been involved in the push for fair municipal revenue sharing for 20 years, and will keep working to protect the City from downloading鈥攚hen other orders of government give us their work without the funding to do it.
Quinn Haider
While I am certainly willing to explore the option of tax relief, we need to ensure that we are continuing to invest in our infrastructure. Like most other cities in North America, we have an infrastructure deficit.聽 What this means is that the roads, pipes, sewers, and buildings that we count on are deteriorating more rapidly than the current level of funding can sustain.聽 So, we need to get creative with our spending, making sure that every single dollar is used to its maximum potential, thus minimizing the effect on our taxpayers.聽 Furthermore, I really like what we did regarding funding the Mayhew and Darlington project.聽 We set aside additional funds so that money required for future maintenance is already there, thus giving our children a break on their taxes later in life.聽 I would be in favour of continuing this practice with any new projects going forward.
Cam Mehling
I am dedicated to keeping taxes as low as possible and would like to attempt to keep taxes the same for 2021. The issue with not raising taxes for multiple years, or for an entire four-year term, is that the next increase will be massive in order to keep up with inflation and rising costs.聽 My other belief is that the city needs to be proactive and look for ways to create sustainable revenue, so the city is not as reliant on tax increases to cover inflation.
Lauretta Ritchie-McInnes
If elected, I will represent the citizens of Yorkton. So, as I prepared to answer this question, I engaged Yorkton residents and asked for their thoughts on property taxes.
Some people are opposed to any tax increase. However, the majority of the people I talked with stated that, in order to have infrastructure systems and amenities, taxes are necessary. No one wants to pay more but, in general, people in Yorkton are prepared to accept reasonable increases provided that better fiscal management is evident. People want an accountability as to how their tax dollars are being spent and, if elected I commit to fiscal accountability.
Jordan Rosluk
My position on property taxes is I would keep property taxes the same for 2021 until we鈥檝e assessed the financial effects of COVID-19 on our residents and business community. I would not support any non-essential building projects until after 2022. By not committing tax payers鈥� money to big building projects we will not have to raise property taxes or find cuts elsewhere. I am committed to the City of Yorkton employees by keeping them employed. The Gallagher Center is also nearing being paid off completely so that will free up capital which I would like to use to upgrade the aging sewage system in incremental stages, as well as fixing some of the rougher roads. I would also like to partner with our business community leadership to discover what Council can do to help them through these difficult times.
CV Sastry
It鈥檚 attractive to say 鈥渮ero per cent tax increase.鈥� But we have not seen growth in population recently or new revenue sources in our city which will reduce tax burdens. As a home owner, I have seen a 15 per cent tax increase in past years, which is unacceptable to many locals. My strategy would be to raise taxes minimally and look at areas where we can save money from within the city. When times are tough, we need to trim some fat in our expenditures. Coming from an industry with low margins, I have the skill set to be diligent in using our money wisely while planning towards future development and growth. I am also up to the challenge of finding and attracting new revenue sources for our city to reduce our personal taxes and hopefully achieve the zero percent or a realistic minimal tax increase.
Terry Schneider
For 2021, a zero percent increase in property tax increase needs to be the goal to provide COVID-19 relief to residents and businesses.
In the years 2022 鈥� 2024, raising taxes by the national inflation rate is in order to keep up with the rising costs of goods and services and allow the City to operate in an effective manner.
Scott Sharpe
Looking four years into the future is even harder to do post COVID-19 than it was pre COVID -19. My position on property taxes would be to propose two years with no tax rate increase to help families and business鈥� keep more money in their pockets as they try to make ends meet. COVID-19 hit hard for a lot of people and they need some relief. To make this possible, we must watch spending and ensure the citizens are getting value for every tax dollar spent. Making Yorkton a business friendly city will be key during this time to increase the tax base with both commercial and residential properties.
Calvin Tokarchuk
After the past four years of continued increases, I would love to tell everyone that鈥檚 it, no more increases for at least four years. I鈥檓 sorry, I cannot promise that. Not only is that unrealistic but would most likely regress any positive steps we have made as a city. I would like to see a more responsible spending mentality by both Council and City Management. Also being more aggressive with filling our empty residential and commercial properties, by bringing in more businesses and residents, we can then lessen the burden on our current population. Property taxes are a means to an end. We all know that they provide our city with the basic amenities that make our lives better. I feel most of our citizens are ok with paying taxes. The current frustration is how those taxes are being spent.
Chris Wyatt
The city needs to hold the line for at least this year and be prepared for the repercussions from the COVID-19 virus. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has already predicted a 20 billion dollar shortfall for municipalities, how will that affect Yorkton? People are concerned about their property taxes costing them $200, $300 or $400 a month or more. This city council will need to make extremely tough financial decisions in the next four years. Continually raising property taxes three-six percent a year every year without making changes is unacceptable. An independent, external review of the city鈥檚 budget and operations should be undertaken. Council needs a fresh perspective on where taxpayer dollars are being spent in all departments.
Darcy Zaharia
Recent history has shown that each year taxes are raised two percent to solely address rising operational costs (achieve same amounts of services and levels of service in 2020 as was received in 2019).聽 聽
Note: One percent property tax increase approximately $250,000 in property tax revenues.
Disregarding any rise to accommodate additional capital expenditures, this means that taxes will increase a total of eight percent minimum over the next four years to maintain the current services and levels of service that we enjoy today.
I would advocate to bring in an outside firm to review our operations and see if any efficiencies exist (this has never been done before).
At that point, I would have discussions with the residents asking if they want to continue paying that increase to maintain the current service levels.聽 If not, then derive a course of action.
I鈥檓 in favor of reasonable increases that are communicated to our residents.
