Recently, Fred Sandeski of the Community Low Income Centre started a dialogue of sorts when he put forward an idea of perhaps a fairer way to deal with the hospital tax levy.
Recently, Fred Sandeski of the Community Low Income Centre started a dialogue of sorts when he put forward an idea of perhaps a fairer way to deal with the hospital tax levy.
By definition, a dialogue is a conversation between two or more people; where the hospital tax levy is concerned, this is an issue that will concern and affect every residential property owner in Weyburn, and therefore the dialogue should expand to as many of these residents as possible.
The idea, simply put, was to make the levy a monthly charge on the water bill, like say $10 or $12 a month, as opposed to one large levy put on the residential tax bill, starting this year and going for the next 15 years. The only undetermined aspect of the levy is which level the council feels comfortable in putting on: $140, $163, or $233.
As Sandeski pointed out, there are people on fixed income or who make minimum wage who really can't afford to have a $200 charge added to their annual tax bill; a $10 or $12 monthly charge would be far easier to budget for.
Now, as it turns out, people can make monthly payments on their tax bill, so if the levy is $140 or $163, it would amount to nearly the same level as what Sandeski is proposing; the difference is the water bill is applicable to a wider number of properties than simply restricting it to residential properties.
Also, a number of points that Sandeski made in his proposal are not workable; for example, the many condos in Weyburn have one water meter for the entire building, and the usage is covered off by the condo fees - it would be impossible to issue tax receipts to each unit, because the charges are not broken down that way.
Also, the levy was not to apply to commercial-industrial properties primarily for the reason the Hospital Foundation wants to approach that sector for larger donations towards the new hospital.
Regardless of why the specific proposal may not work the way the originator proposed, what's important is that putting the idea out there gets a dialogue going in the community as people think about the issue. Maybe the city proposal is the best way to handle the levy, or maybe someone has an idea for how it could be better handled, but we'll never know unless residents talk about it and figure the best way to have these funds raised for a new hospital.
