TRUE TAX REFORM for your consideration.

HRM's new tax reform is nothing but a tax reshuffle. They will lower taxes on condos and apartment dwellers and are already doing away with the business occupancy tax. To make these short falls up they will look to the home owners. Councillor Russell Walker told us at one meeting that he expects to see home taxes, outside old Halifax, double to triple in cost. Can you afford this. It's time for the city to look at true tax reform, do away with the land value based system and look at an income based system.

This will address all the problems that the civic government says are in the present system such as people losing the family home because it is assessed so high for taxes that they cannot afford it. People who see their income drop as a result of a death of a spouse, retirement, sickness or unemployment. It will also cut down on the number of employees needed at city hall.

Do away with municipal taxes, as we now know them. The only bill you will get from the city is for water and only water usage will be on the bill. This way people who consume or waste water will pay more.

To replace the present system of taxation add ¼ of 1%: or ½ of 1%: or even a full 1% to the income tax form. Ottawa collects it and turns it over to the municipality. When filing tax returns people would list their gross income deduct the personal allowances and pay a percent of the next line. Business would take their gross earnings, deduct T4 amounts and anything paid out to share holders and pay a percentage of that amount.

The pluses.
1. People who have land from their family but don’t have the wealth to pay the present system would pay according to their income and not lose their home.
2. If your income drops for any reason; you’re out of work; retirement; death of a spouse; for any reason you would pay less taxes to the city because your taxes would be directly linked to you earnings.
3. Everybody pays directly no hidden taxes in rents etc. Therefore rents should drop when this is instituted. No condo land taxes on top of owner’s taxes.
4. Somebody with money but living in a modest home would pay according to their ability.
5. Fewer employees at city hall. We pay for a finance department at all three levels of government so they can tax us and collect the taxes. This triple service cost can be stopped with this system.
6. Business would contribute according to their income. Nobody would be left out.
7. The city would not have to take drastic action such as selling a persons house or forcing them to sell it. Ottawa has the power to garnishee wages at the source.
8. We would not need an assessment department in city hall or to pay the province for doing assessments.

There may be some wrinkles that have to be ironed out but as a basis for true tax reform I feel that this addresses and offers solutions to the problems in the present system as well as lowering operating costs for the city.