Cape Breton Regional Municipality suggests new provincial invoice will increase taxes – Halifax
Nova Scotia’s 2nd premier municipality is vowing to battle proposed provincial legislation it contends will increase taxes for its inhabitants.
Mayor Amanda McDougall, of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, held a information conference Friday outside city corridor in Sydney, N.S., to denounce alterations in the Municipal Reform Act.
McDougall claimed the alterations will not yield the personal savings claimed by the province or the income necessary to increase infrastructure.
“No new money has been declared for municipal funding in this bill,” the mayor reported.
Provincial Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr has said the improvements to what is acknowledged as the Services Exchange Settlement, which covers 48 municipalities but not Halifax, would preserve them up to $50 million in annual contributions that go over such matters as jail charges, surplus universities and running losses for general public housing.
But McDougall claimed the $4.5 million in discounts her municipality will now be able to collect and use for other applications will nonetheless have to be recouped by the province to pay out for individuals companies, amounting to a double tax on citizens.
“This is absurd, not to point out unethical,” McDougall said.
The mayor claimed she will current her fears through an overall look prior to a legislature committee future 7 days, whilst the municipality will mount an information campaign with its citizens that it hopes will place pressure on the provincial authorities.
Lohr reported Friday that he doesn’t agree with McDougall’s assessment that there are no price savings, but he conceded they might not be as significant as the municipality had hoped.
“But undoubtedly in terms of the 48 municipalities, they are by considerably the solitary greatest benefactor,” he claimed.
The spat with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality follows a different with the Halifax Regional Municipality around a proposed invoice aimed at quick-tracking housing advancement in the province’s most significant metropolis.
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage has called the legislation “unnecessary and harmful” and stated it was created on the “false premise” that there a
re unacceptable delays in advancing projects in the metropolis.
The Progressive Conservative monthly bill would demand Halifax to operate with the province to grant pre-certified developers expedited approvals for residential units and would impose a two-year freeze on the service fees the metropolis levies on builders.
Lohr hinted Friday to probable governing administration amendments to the housing bill, but he did not launch any aspects when asked by reporters.
This report by The Canadian Press was 1st revealed Oct. 20, 2023.
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