The Taxman Cometh ... Again!

 

If you own real estate in Rosthern, you have today and tomorrow to pay your property taxes (or make a partial payment at least) before penalties set in. And if—like me—you think what’s demanded of you by the town administration is too much, you might well point out potholes or some such as evidence that your sacrificial taxes aren’t being spent well.

Tax-payer, tax-collector tension dates back thousands of years, to whenever the first taxpayer handed over a few shekels to the first tax collector … at spear-point, probably.

Strikes me there are two main considerations that go into deciding who and how to tax: 1) services demanded or desired, and 2) fairness in determining what will be each individual’s share of the cost.

Our age demands all-weather streets and walking routes, fire fighting, recreation facilities, flowers and lawns in public areas, steady supply of potable water, reliable and safe removal of sewage and waste, street cleaning, snow clearance, etc. Which of these would any of us give up in order to lower the mill rate?

The amount we’re taxed needs to pay for the services we demand. True, we could look back at how these services were delivered and fault our town with inefficiency and waste, on particulars. Generally, though, complaints are about a lack in service, not a surplus.

Property Tax is meant to be a progressive tax like income tax: someone who can afford a $500,000 house on Fifth Street is assumed to have more means to pay taxes than a family in a two-bedroom on East Railway. At present, a government adjuster places a value number on each property, our town sets a mill rate (after setting the budget) and multiplies the property value by the rate, adds a few surcharges like an amount to the hospital building fund and, voila, your and my tax obligations.

Frontage Tax used to determine the property tax amount by the number of feet of sidewalk and street fronting your property, but that was when municipalities provided almost no services beyond street and boardwalk maintenance. It wouldn’t work fairly in an age of condos and other multiple-occupancy dwellings, for instance.

Much older still would be the head tax; each adult living in the town pays $500, say, the most regressive tax system ever.

There are, of course, other considerations, like the Education portion of your tax bill. An elderly Rosthernite said to me, “I have no kids or grandkids in school. Why should I pay an education tax?” Seems logical, if you don’t consider that the kids in Rosthern will be the town council sooner than we expect, and a good education should help them be good council members.

The burst of inflation erupting after Covid and related changes have meant that many incomes haven’t kept pace with costs. The bind exists for businesses, service institutions and municipalities as well. If I had one recommendation to give our council, it would be that they remove the penalties for budgeting taxes over the length of the year. Instead, offer a 3% discount for paying the total on July 31, perhaps, but make a kind gesture of solidarity with those who are struggling.

Happy tax day, everyone!