There have been discussions held recently among business organizations such as the chambers of commerce, mayors, councillors and provincial administrators regarding the pros and cons of providing communities the opportunity to establish a small additional tax to enable them to complete more infrastructure work in a timely manner.
The city-invoked taxes, of one per cent for instance, could be applied to all retail sales right at the counter. In some communities south of the border, where they are allowed to add these local taxes, the additional money often comes from the hospitality industry, meaning a one per cent tax on all hotel, motel and bed and breakfast rooms. This kind of tax usually gets a green light from local residents since it is usually applied to visitors to their city or town ... not the local population, much like a toll or user fee is paid for the use of a highway or bridge.
With cities such as Estevan crying out for more funds to address growing needs for roads, sewers, waterlines, sidewalks, drainage systems, parks and street lights ... the local tax idea is perhaps one whose time has come.
If such a tax were allowed, there would have to be restrictions in place to make certain there would be no abuses of the privilege.
Estevan and the RM of Estevan have already added a fraction of a mill to property taxes to accommodate our growing health-care professional needs, which leads us to the negative aspect of such a concept.
By implementing a local tax, would we simply be letting our provincial and federal governments off the hook? Why give them more leeway to spend our money recklessly? They can't do the job with the money we've given them so far without going deeper in debt, so why give them another out?
We have a difficult enough time getting them to return our money now to help us build nursing homes, arenas, highways and lagoon systems. What would they do if they knew Estevan and other cities had the ability to re-tax the taxpayers?
On the positive side, a local taxation system on retail or hospitality industries would provide communities with more flexibility and allow us to move necessary projects along at a faster clip.
With the history we have of taxpayers watching over city halls like vultures, we wouldn't expect a whole lot of abuse of the additional income, but we could expect a whole lot of debate over what to spend it on. But then, that is why we elect city councillors and a mayor.
As it stands now, a rapidly growing Saskatchewan is also rapidly falling behind in necessary portfolios such as health, highways and education. Something needs to be done.
Any business person can tell the politicians that rapid growth can be just as deadly to a business as lack of growth and right about now, Saskatchewan is heading down that path. Our growth is outpacing our provincial government's ability to accommodate it. Look at our highways as exhibit No. 1.
We've seen a sad situation already unfold on the local scene with our feckless response to the need for affordable housing. We're four years behind on the housing front and by the time we catch up, there will be a new need that will be lacking in attention because we've spent our resources trying to house a population that may, or may not, still be here.
If we can't sustain and stabilize while growing ... then we're in trouble. Those who arrive in our city and can't find housing at a reasonable price will simply quit coming, then what?
A local tax might provide the opportunity for Estevan to be pro-active rather than continually finding ourselves in a reactive mode.
