A decision was made at last week Wednesday's town council meeting to implement a tax rebate system for commercial property owners in Carlyle
It has been a month since town council met with Carlyle business owner regarding increased property taxes but after weeks of deliberation council found a way to help business owners. The help comes in the form of a budget cut; council slashed $198,000 to the town's current budget of $3,723,919 reducing it to $3,527,747.With the cut, council hopes to alleviate the financial burden on commercial property owners in town. Co-owner of Pharmasave Steve Shultz who was one of the main advocates in proposing that business owners receive some sort of reduction expressed his thoughts of the rebate system. "I think it's a good thing and that our voices can be heard, it would be good to see little bit more but we may gripe and grumble but it's good to know council can have some fairness," he said. Another business own Troy Foster of Foster's Audio and Video believes the change was a win for all involved and hopes for better communication between council and business owners.
"I think it's good for all the people involved I think they will have to communicate back and forth with the chamber of commerce so council understands how the taxes affect business," he said.
The cut comes at a small sacrifice as the plan for replacing the sidewalk on Main Street has been cancelled as well as placing cement swales at intersections. There will also be no purchasing of land to build a street at the south end of town, a plan, which was initially implemented to alleviate traffic on Carlyle Avenue. To further facilitate the tax rebate system council has cut out the painting of the civic center offices, as well as, the addition of ramps for the dumpster bins at the transfer station.
Mayor Don Shirley admitted that the job council has is a hard one and hopes people don't get the wrong idea when certain decisions are made as balancing the town's budget can be a challenge. "It's in response really to the businesses feeling they were being unfairly treated; and many of them really did get a high increase. I am hoping that it will strike a balance, but it's important to realize that it is a temporary fix," he said."We're going to try and develop a better tax structure for next year and redo it a little bit."
This now means commercial property owners who already paid their taxes will receive a cheque. And owners who have not yet paid will see credit adjustment to their tax account and benefit from the reduced amounts.
