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From the Herald's online version today...things are starting to get nasty!
HRM staffer denies mayor pressured him on trade centre
Convention centre foes say bureaucrat felt heat 'to get these numbers high'
By IAN FAIRCLOUGH Staff Reporter
Tue, Dec 7 - 4:53 AM
Save the View coalition member Allan Robertson comments on a city staff report for the proposed new Halifax convention centre during a news conference on Monday. (Peter Parsons / Staff)
Two members of a group that opposes a proposed new convention centre in Halifax say a municipal staffer told them he was under pressure from Mayor Peter Kelly to provide estimates that supported the centre as a good investment.
But the staff member denies saying anything of the kind.
Allan Robertson of Save the View made the allegation at a news conference at which he said the city staff report contained unrealistic revenue projections and left out some costs. Regional council decided Nov. 9 to support the convention centre on the basis of the staff report.
Robertson said Bruce Fisher, Halifax Regional Municipality’s manager of fiscal and tax policy, referred to the mayor in a meeting on Nov. 24.
"He said, ‘Listen, I’m being pressured so much by the mayor on the one hand to get these numbers high (for property tax revenue), and I’m being pressured by you guys to say they’re far too high,’ " Robertson said.
"I’m simply reporting what Mr. Fisher told Phil Pacey and me, it’s as simple as that."
Pacey said he recalled Fisher saying something to the effect that while Save the View contended the estimated revenue from property taxes should have been lower, the mayor wanted him to go "in the other direction."
But Fisher said Robertson and Pacey are wrong.
"They’re misinterpreting," he said.
Fisher said he doesn’t recall exactly what was said at their meeting, but "I can tell you that I’ve never met with the mayor on this issue, I’ve never spoken to him prior to going to (committee of the whole), I never spoke to him about the property tax on the site."
He said the taxation figure sent to council "is purely our estimate. We stand behind it, it’s reasonable based on what we know today."
Robertson said the 60-page staff presentation to council several weeks ago that led to council voting in favour of the convention centre included some information that wasn’t in the recap at the end of the presentation.
The recap showed that, with the provincial government paying property tax, the centre would break even for the city.
Robertson said the break-even estimate had tax revenue projections that were too high and should instead have included items resulting in an annual loss of $5.8 million.
Fisher said he and his department stand by their numbers.
"It’s a reasonable estimate, based on all the factors we were able to consider," he said.
"The mayor has never pressured me to do anything unprofessional with those numbers or make them higher than they should be."
He said his department looked at things such as lost property taxes from neighbouring businesses, which Save the View said wasn’t considered, and also at what kind of growth might create more tax revenue.
"I guess Save the View wants to take the two negatives and put them in the summary slide but they don’t want to put the positives in," Fisher said.
"In our summary slide, we focused very clearly on the site, keeping in mind that there are issues outside the site, both positive and negative.
"Council knew that. They had all the information."
Personally - this is where the issue has taken a serious turn for me. It's one thing to argue numbers, but when a group accuses someone of doing something unprofessional without proof - they cross a line.
I watched the presentation and in no way did I feel he did what STV is suggesting. If I were the City Manager of HRM - I'd be in the news demanding an appology and retraction.
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