It could be British Columbia’s biggest employment bonanza this year. City halls will soon be overrun by wannabe mayors, councillors and school trustees as nominations open for municipal elections. More than 1,000 jobs will be up for grabs on November 19th.
Door knocking, mail drops, telephone calls, social media updates, all-candidate meetings, newspaper stories and invasive sign campaigns will sprout as candidates try to get their names out to the public.
Meanwhile, the public will be trying to get their own message through to these politicians. In this municipal election cycle, more than in any previous local campaign, citizens have a focused message: hold the line on property taxes.
A recent Angus Reid poll released by the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association found that 92 per cent of British Columbians want mayoralty and council candidates to be specific in their positions about taxation and spending. More than half (53 per cent) said property taxes are too high, and 81 per cent of respondents said they would support candidates who committed to reduced municipal spending and taxes.
With these numbers in mind, most candidates will preach the gospel of fiscal responsibility and low taxes. Many will dutifully fill out industry and neighbourhood questionnaires and promise to change spending at their city hall.
But talk is worthless. The key to holding the line on property taxes is to identify and elect candidates willing to pass a Taxpayer Protection Bylaw, as proposed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
The CTF’s Taxpayer Protection Bylaw caps property tax increases at the rate of inflation, unless explicit permission is sought from the public through a referendum. It also legislates a penalty for mayors and councillors who raise taxes above that level, cutting their pay by 15 per cent, similar to what the premier and cabinet face when the provincial government runs a deficit.
The Taxpayer Protection Bylaw also addresses other issues that concern taxpayers. Following the lead of the City of Toronto, B.C. mayors and councillors would publish their municipal expense account receipts online for the public to review. This increased level of accountability and transparency will instil confidence in voters that their elected officials can be trusted with the taxpayers’ cheque book.
The bylaw also supports the creation of a Municipal Auditor General. It’s likely that most of the new candidates will say they back such an office—after all, they are usually running because they are dissatisfied with the status quo. Most of the incumbents, if they are being true to their Union of BC Municipalities’ tough talk and vote, will not. But while a Municipal Auditor General is important, it should not be the sole litmus test to judge candidates’ fiscal restraint.
Such a bylaw would change the DNA at a city hall by giving staff unequivocal direction on how to prepare the budget, how high taxes can be hiked and what type of fiscal accountability is acceptable to council.
If a Taxpayer Protection Bylaw was in place, municipal staff would be bound to only recommend items and budgets that fit with its limits. It enshrines these principles in a legal form in a municipality, giving taxpayers’ confidence that they will be upheld.
If you are one of those 81 per cent of taxpayers that are demanding property taxes be kept at reasonable levels, ask your local candidate this election if they will pass a Taxpayer Protection Bylaw.
