Publisher,
I read with some sense of amazement your editorial of August 28 where you called for higher land taxes and more bicycle lanes. You must be in an enviable position financially compared to the rest of us. Sadly my neighbours and I can’t find any common ground in your editorial.
Firstly, inflation, the doubling of the price of gasoline, the rapid rise in food prices, the 50% rise in the price of propane, etc. has left most of us average citizens somewhat stunned so the idea of adding to the pain by raising land taxes sounds somewhat obscene.
Secondly, you refer to the parking fees and the MAT tax as a “pot of gold” to be spent on extras. I would describe it more as booty, somewhat like the government sponsored privateers of old who used to legally steal from foreign shipping. (Without such Government backing they were called pirates and hung.) Taxes are a slippery slope and once implemented they are hard to eliminate and administrations then proceed to the next tax grab. So, let’s use the booty to produce parking lots etc. so we can reduce or eliminate the charges in the future. Ditto the MAT tax. Or better yet, use these resources to further reduce the taxes paid by the residents – many of whom are either retired or changing beds in the local hotels for 16 bucks an hour.
Thirdly, anyone I’ve talked to has no interest in bicycle lanes. In a retirement community that is trying to get qualification as a northern community this doesn’t seem an astute use of funds. Furthermore, along the same line, the cracked and decrepit politically motivated “bicycle lanes” on highway 6 should be removed before people are killed. Think of fragile humans being passed by cars moving at 100 kph. Or, as I saw today, the fall spectacle of lane and a half wide combines moving up the Ferndale flats with a ferry boat crowd of over 20 cars in the other lane and 4 bicycles also moving south in the “bicycle lanes”. Is this something to be encouraged? Must people be killed before the obvious is acted upon?
Moving on to this idea of further modernizing the villages. I retired here because I like it as is. Many people complain because it’s changing. I’m not sure we need to pour more fuel on the fire. Is there a need to create a Hamilton of the North? And in that vein, most of us taxpayer don’t live in the two villages, and so there is possibly a question of how much disproportionate revenue should be spent on the villages and the part time commercial entities therein? Ha-ha.
In closing I note many Governments around the world are refunding energy costs in an effort to cap the crippling costs foreseen for energy this winter. Perhaps NBP could lead the charge among municipalities and use some of our constantly growing multimillion-dollar slush fund to reduce taxes by one half for a year or two to help the average person get back on their feet. Charity begins at home the good book says.
Regards,
Kevin Doyle,
Dorcas Bay
