The three Tantramar mayoral candidates had a spirited debate over municipal taxation and tax rebates during an hour-long radio forum last Friday.
CHMA hosted the forum with candidates Sabine Dietz, Debbie Wiggins-Colwell and Terry Jones. The event was organized by Bruce Wark of the Warktimes and moderated by Carol Cook of the Citizens Committee for Informed Elections.
Listen to the full discussion below:
Residents in the former local service districts have seen property tax rates rise, while those living in Sackville and Dorcester have seen a slight decrease since amalgamation in 2023.
When Cook asked the candidates how they felt about the issue, the three agreed the municipality needs to look closely at rates and how they are calculated to ensure fairness across Tantramar based on services received.
The disagreement arose when the topic of tax breaks for private developments came up.
Currently, Tantramar has an economic development incentive program for commercial, industrial and multi-unit residential projects, which offers around 50 per cent tax rebates. For projects over $5 million, those rebates last for 5 years, and for those over that threshold, they last for 10.
Wiggins-Colwell said she was all for them and the benefits they can bring to the community, citing businesses and the medical centre being put on the ground level of the Lafford development in downtown Sackville as examples. But both Jones and Dietz said that developments likely would have been built regardless of tax incentives that reduce municipal revenues.
In particular, Dietz, who disclosed that her own non-profit multi-unit residential development recieved approval for the incentive, questioned whether the current council had any sort of analysis done to determine what projects qualify.
A back-and-forth ensued between Wiggins-Colwell and Dietz, with Wiggins-Colwell arguing development may move out of the downtown core or to another community altogether, and Dietz saying there’s no proof that would happen, and that to continue to provide incentives without proper guidelines was a risk to the future of Tantramar for only a “maybe benefit.”
Cook brought Jones back into the debate, who said that while attracting new businesses is necessary, we’ve often seen businesses shuffle between buildings, as opposed to new businesses coming in. Jones also said that even with new growth, the potential millions in lost tax revenue over 10 years could be used to fund more and better services for residents.
Other topics covered during the forum include the gas plant, the ongoing trouble within Sackville’s fire services, poverty, public question period during council meetings and climate change.
CHMA will air the forum on Thursday, April 23rd at 6pm. We continue to be blocked on Meta’s social media platforms, so we’ve also made the discussion available on our YouTube channel. Please share from here to your socials to help spread the word.
