Councillor Haidee Robertson asked the premier about property taxes that make homes unaffordable. Photo: Town of Tantramar
Aside from highly contentious issues such as the proposed gas plant and the plan for highway tolls, Premier Holt discussed a wide range of other issues with Tantramar Town Council last week including property tax reform, road safety and local health care.
“We’ve been going through a large property tax reform process,” Holt said during the 50 minute meeting last Wednesday.
“That’s partly why we froze property tax assessments last year because it’s a complex system to try and unravel and rebuild.”
The premier was responding to comments from Councillor Haidee Robertson who said the property tax system is making housing unaffordable.
“In the rural setting, the property assessments are so high now that seniors are being forced out of their homes because they can’t afford the tax bill,” Robertson said.
Holt responded that her government is bringing in a new system to ensure that when property assessments rise by more than the rate of inflation, the province will automatically lower municipal tax rates to stabilize the tax bills that property owners pay.
“The value of your house should not necessarily dictate what you pay in taxes,” the premier said referring to the present system under which as tax assessments rise, municipalities reap a windfall in revenues unless they lower their tax rates.
Starting next year, an automatic stabilizer will lower municipal tax rates if assessments in a community rise by more than the rate of inflation in any year.
Municipal councils would still be able to raise rates if they need additional revenue, but would have to take political responsibility for their decision.
Under the new system, there will also be higher property tax allowances for those on low incomes.
To read a detailed overview of New Brunswick’s property tax reform, click here.
Other council questions
Councillor Barry Hicks asked Holt about the start date for construction of the temporary, modular bridge at Peck’s Cove.
The premier replied that she did not have a start date, but had been told the project is 80% designed and plans call for the temporary bridge to be installed by the end of 2026.
Councillor Wayne Wells. Photo: Town of Tantramar
Councillor Wayne Wells asked if the provincial veterinary service is still going to be cancelled.
“A lot of farmers in my ward want a provincial vet,” he said.
Holt replied that New Brunswick still intends to privatize the vet service.
“We don’t provide the maintenance guy for your truck, for your business, so it’s the same way that all of the provinces around us, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, PEI, run a private vet service. That’s what we’re doing,” she said.
Wells also asked about improved safety, including left turn and passing lanes on Rte. 16 from Aulac to the Confederation Bridge.
“It’s very busy, it’s very dangerous,” he said. “Me being in the fire department for 42 years, I’ve seen a lot of messes.”
He mentioned residents having to turn left onto Parsons Road and said the government would be receiving a petition seeking a left-turn lane on the highway from the people in Jolicure.
Holt indicated that she had noted his concerns.
Dorchester Penitentiary
Councillor Alyssa Greene referred to the federal government’s plan to build a $1 billion health centre at Dorchester Penitentiary.
She asked if the province could help lobby the federal government for money to upgrade the unpaved stretch of Walker Road that leads from TransCanada highway exit 500 to Dorchester.
Councillor Alyssa Greene. Photo: Town of Tantramar
“We don’t have an exit directly into Dorchester, and that would accommodate the traffic, the prison traffic, and also maybe commercial traffic,” she said.
“We spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to use political capital with the feds,” Holt replied.
“There’s lots of things happening with the feds right now. There’s different levers we can pull or push. We can’t pull every lever every time. And so we’re constantly asking ourselves, is this a fight that we want to take on?” the premier added.
Greene also noted that the province receives money from the federal government to cover municipal property taxes for Dorchester Penitentiary, but sends only part of it to Tantramar.
CAO Jennifer Borne said Tantramar receives between $600,000 and $700,000 from the province as a payment in lieu of property taxes.
“When it goes direct to the municipality, Spring Hill Institution, Cumberland County would receive a little over $2 million,” she said.
Premier’s priorities
Councillor Tori Weldon. Photo: Town of Tantramar
When Councillor Tori Weldon asked about her priorities, Holt said it was an easy question to answer.
“My number one priority is the health care system,” she said.
“And so when I think of Tantramar, I’m thinking about the clinic, I’m thinking about the hospital, I’m thinking about the doctors and nurse practitioners that are getting recruited here,” Holt said.
She noted that Horizon tells her that the 200 people still on the wait list will soon have access to a primary care provider, but said the health network needs to move more quickly on renovations and lease signings to provide needed space.
When Holt also mentioned Mount Allison University as an economic “driving force,” Councillor Weldon said she found talk of privatizing the university “pretty scary.”
“That wasn’t a real thing,” Holt said.
‘Very successful’ meeting
After council’s meeting with the premier ended, Mayor Wiggins-Colwell said she thought it had been very successful.
“She got a lot of information that she may or may not have known about Tantramar and I think that’s a good thing to have her informed about what’s going on and what our concerns were.”
When asked about what stood out for her, the mayor mentioned the discussion on property tax reform.
“I liked what she said about stabilizing taxes,”she said.
“I had just come from a meeting in Moncton on that and I thought she explained it really well. So that was my highlight.”
This is the third of three reports on Tantramar council’s meeting with Premier Holt. Warktimes was able to attend the meeting after Holt said she had no objection because this was council’s meeting and it was up to them to decide who could attend.
A couple of things in this article stood out to me.
Paving Walker Road from the highway to Dorchester. Not only would that make access to the highway easier, but it would – likely – eventually lead to homes being built out that way. “If you pave it, they will come” kind of thing.
Considering what is out there – the water shed, the gun ranges and I believe another range dedicated to the Pen, and camps as well – what would be in place to protect that area from housing, or to protect housing projects from being affected?
Second – health care. I don’t believe the number one priority is health care for this Government. There is little that shows this is the case.
200 people on the wait list getting a primary is great, but it’s still not enough to fix the backlog. And of those 200, how many of them are actual LOCAL people?
Renovations and lease signings need to be quicker – agreed. And in alignment with this – when will the Sackville Hospital become a priority? Because right now, there’s a section of roof where trees are growing (walk past it, the lower part of the building at the front where Extra Mural is and you’ll count at least 6 to 12 of them), there is a decreasing amount of room everywhere (since Beal moved in and that entire side was lost things are very cramped) and there are other issues that likely need to be addressed. So if health care is a priority, prove it. Talk with staff – ALL staff – and start getting suggestions for issues that need solving or improvements, or better yet, the beginning stages for a revamp/even a new hospital (and yes I’m aware that last is not likely what so ever but that doesn’t mean it’s not an issue).
Let’s face it, the current administration of the province thinks Tantramar is considered the toilet of the province. The provincial government wants to install tolls/tariffs in Aulac, nice cash cow for the province on the backs of Tantramar citizens. I thought the trans Canada highway was meant for free movement between all provinces. Let’s just put an American power plant in Tantramar some thing else to toss down the toilet of Tantramar, if the Province is so short on power why are we selling electricity to Maine? Let’s not even get started with the Hospital, province can’t keep it open, who cares it’s only our favourite toilet Tantramar. Meanwhile our neighbours in Amherst are having a Huge expansion to their hospital so the Tantramar residents can leach off our neighbours for emergency services but who cares it’s only Tantramar. Oh yeah, the flooding of the marsh connection to NS let’s just forget that after all we are only talking about Tantramar. You know Tantramar they have that Green Party Person representing them, not the right colour if they want anything from this Liberal government. Ok let’s put our heads together and see if there is anything else we can screw them out of, oh yeah maybe the university should be privatized that will save the province even more money. I wonder if our Liberal government is more to the right than the conservatives philosophy. Yes let’s squeeze the hell out of Tantramar make them see what Green Party will do for them. Welcome to Tantramar the toilet of the province… great new slogan.
While you’re right about the expansion of the Amherst Hospital, there’s a few things that go with that.
1. They are the biggest and really ONLY hospital for the entire county; meanwhile yes we are still a ‘hospital’, we have TWO larger centers half an hour away.
2. Patients in NB – not just Tantramar – already “leech” off our neighbours because there are referrals to Amherst doctors/specialists all the time and this has been a thing for decades.
3. It’s right to worry about the expansion because just how many of our staff at SMH are going to consider going there to work? Larger/Newer ER, a permanent dialysis unit (likely will only serve NS but then again…)
4. According to https://www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/article/amherst-ns-regional-hospital-getting-larger-er-to-serve-patients-more-efficiently/ — Amherst’s new ER unit will have capacity to serve 23,000 patients a year. How many of them will be from NB? What are the stats for SMH and how does it compare to TMH, GDH and CRHCC, because there are days you can see the waiting room full of people and we might register near 60 people in a day. That’s in an 8 hour period (no, they don’t all get seen, it’d be impossible even with two doctors, BUT the fact that there are that many registered says a lot).
Should we be concerned? Absolutely! More than absolutely. Toss in the tolls and it exacerbates the situation. And the ‘project’ to prevent flooding off the Isthmus/marsh corridor…
The issue isn’t just on council, it’s on Tantramar as a whole to push back against this lack of thought by the province (but then the lack of thought by the province isn’t new and hasn’t been new for a few years as well).