Quote:
Originally Posted by Mayor Quimby
I'm torn on the whole area, I agree with GG that they should pay there share and know that a hot economy will attract investment regardless of costs. The downside is if Regina is the only city to move this way, we could be used as an example for everyone else and see a massive exodus.
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One way to find out, I guess - go ahead and raise it, and see what happens. Now's the time to do it, when the economy is strong, not when it's weak. That is, if this is what Reginans actually want. If they did, then they would've voted for this other candidate with this alternate budget.
The
City of Edmonton's property tax survey (referenced in the link you gave us) says a lot of cities shift their taxes away from residential property and towards business than Regina does. Residential tax makes up 63% of the tax burden in Regina, vs 27 in Toronto, 45 in Montreal, 46 in Victoria, 47 in Saint John, 48 in Burnaby and Vancouver, 50 in Calgary, 53 in St John's, 54 in Ottawa and Halifax, 55 in Edmonton, 57 in Grande Prairie and Winnipeg, 59 in Fredericton.
That's a pretty diverse group of cities with totally different industries and populations, but all pretty good and prosperous places (they all beat Regina in Canadian Business'
Canada's Best Places to Live (except Grande Prairie and Saint John))... maybe taxing like they do would be a good thing. If Reginans shared the same priorities, I mean.