About Cranbrook Taxes: Our previous letter to the editor has created quite the storm of interesting comments which definitely keeps the community engaged. There have been a number of positive responses from the community in general, however a few incumbents and their supporters have disagreed and state they lack facts. So here are the facts: When our letter stated that Cranbrook is the 4th highest taxed jurisdiction the study was based on 27 communities in BC with population category range from 10,000 to 24,999. This information is publicly available at civicinfobc.ca. These are facts and not opinions. Councillor Cross wrote a letter to the editor inferring that Cranbrook taxes are in the middle of the pack which is an opinion. She states that she has researched 9 municipalities in BC with population category from 16,000 to 24,000 and includes Courtenay BC (population just over 24,000) and then quotes in the newspaper that …Cranbrook is around the middle. This statement is incorrect. So let’s review these 9 municipalities that she refers to and tell me if our municipal tax rates are in the middle as she wrote in her letter to the editor on Tuesday November 4th. From Highest to Lowest: Residential Municipal Rate #1 - Port Alberni 9.1145 #2 - Cranbrook 7.3476 #3 - Williams Lake 5.88 #4 - Ft St John 5.189 #5 - Salmon Arm 4.91 #6 - Courtenay 4.04 #7 - Pitt Meadows 4.01 #8 - Colwood 3.4916 #9 - White Rock 3.679 Business Municipal Rate #1 - Cranbrook 19.3029 #2 - Port Alberni 15.4923 #3 - Ft St John 14.5986 #4 - Colwood 13.7962 #5 - Williams Lake 12.71 #6 - Pitt Meadows 12.482 #7 - Salmon Arm 12.0018 #8 - Courtenay 11.3279 #9 - White Rock 8.728 *source civicinfo.bc.ca These 9 communities’ tell us that Cranbrook has the 2nd highest tax rate for residential and the highest business rate. What Councillor Cross most likely meant was that the ``Tax Gap Rate`` is in the middle. There is a large difference between a Tax Rate and a `Tax Gap Rate` The Tax Rate calculates how much you pay for the municipal portion of your taxes based on per $1,000 of assessed value. The `Tax Gap Rate is the gap between the Residential Rate and The Business Rate. I trust this clarifies to Councillor Cross that indeed Cranbrook Tax Rates for both residential and business are some of the highest in BC. Please visit civicinfobc.ca to verify these findings. It is unfortunate that some choose to counterattack us personally when we are only pointing out the facts and encouraging community discussion about taxation and spending in our City and the need to control its escalating costs. Sincerely Jason & Christy Wheeldon
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:16:43 +0000
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