N.S. municipalities want alternatives to property taxes to raise revenue

Halifax’s deputy mayor says property taxes make up too much of the municipality’s budget.

Less than two months ago, Halifax councillors signed off on a 9.5 per cent increase to the municipal portion of property tax bills.

Speaking at the State of the Municipality address on Wednesday, Deputy Mayor Patty Cuttell said while the province and municipality are aligned on priorities, alignment on funding is also needed.

“What we’re figuring out is that growth is not paying for growth,” she told reporters. “When you need to raise rates to raise revenue, to deliver on projects for future development, really, it’s like existing residents paying for future growth.

“And that’s not how rates and taxes are supposed to work.”

Cutell said while municipalities in Nova Scotia have advocated for change for “a number of years,” it’s a problem across Canada “as municipalities kind of take on more of the burden of infrastructure.”

About 71 per cent of the city’s operating revenue comes from property taxes, or 82 per cent combined with other tax agreements and payments in lieu of tax.

That puts the Halifax Regional Municipality near the top when it comes to how much cities rely on property taxes.

HRM staff reviewed some other cities across Canada and found a variety of different percentages:

• Moncton – 88 per cent
• Cape Breton Regional Municipality – 77 per cent
• St. John’s – 59 per cent
• Winnipeg – 35 per cent
• Toronto – 35 per cent

Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore has already been tasked with penning a letter to the province, seeking a review of funding contributions to the municipality.

But it’s not just a city concern.

“It’s tremendously important,” said Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood. “We’re all suffering. I mean every level of government. But, you know, we’re sitting here closest to the people with no means to gather any more funding.”

One alternative to increase revenue is user fees, though smaller municipalities are generally more limited in those options.

Mood, who is also the past president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities (NSFM), said 75 per cent of her town’s operating budget comes from property taxes.

She said it’s a topic of discussion among NSFM colleagues seeking fiscal change.

“It touches every single municipal unit, which means that it affects every single citizen,” she told CTV News Atlantic. “We need to have those conversations obviously with the province and see what else can happen.”

The Nova Scotia government didn’t respond to CTV News Atlantic’s questions by deadline on Thursday.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says it boils down to politicians spending in a cost-effective manner.

“I’d say it’s more of a structural issue than a provincial one or federal one, though all municipalities are creatures of statute,” says Devin Drover, the federation’s Atlantic director. “The fundamental issue is, I don’t know if there is any exact perfect model of taxes.”

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