Thursday, August 2, 2012

Good News, Bad News Hidden Taxes in the Crowsnest Pass


Yesterday I received some information regarding the triennial budget, Information that I had requested from the Municipality back in June. Big thanks to CAO Myron Thompson and his staff for getting that to me.

First, the good news there is no projected Utility Rate Increases for 2013-2014 (Water, Sewer, Garbage, Recycling)

The Bad News our Franchise Fees will be going up next year, the fee we pay on our Gas bills that is then handed over to the municipality will increase next year by 75% which will take an additional $211,980 out of the taxpayers pockets.
The fee we pay on our power bill will be increasing by 43%, which will take a further $124,965 out of the taxpayer’s pockets.
That means in total an additional $336,945 will leave our bank accounts and be used to feed the municipalities appetite.  
The only bright note from this is that the municipality will have reached the maximum it can charge for Franchise Fees at that point, so barring a change in regulations by the provincial government it will not go any higher.

Above I have just indicated what the increase in Franchise Fees will be for next year. In total Franchise Fees collected in 2013 will be $906,694 or roughly $285 per household.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank God for the provincial government, at least in this case.

Anonymous said...

Dean said:
"Yesterday I received some information regarding the triennial budget, Information that I had requested from the Municipality back in June. Big thanks to CAO Myron Thompson and his staff for getting that to me."

Which document(s) is he getting that info from? There is a 12 page 2012-2014 Triennial Budget - Municipality of Crowsnest Pass[PDF] which says:
"On April 17, 2012, Council approved the Municipality’s first
Triennial Budget that supports the Strategic Priorities identified
by the 2012-2014 Strategic Action Plan."

This appears to be an "executive summary", it doesn't mention Franchise Fees. Is there a full detailed document and are they keeping it secret?

BTW, I don't see a motion to approve it in the April 17, 2012 Council minutes.

Anonymous said...

Dean I did not even realize we paid this until I looked at your blog
Thanks

Anonymous said...

That total amount would be equal to about a 5% increase in property taxes.The worse thing a council can do is try to trick you.So later on they will brag that property taxes did not go up very much but not tell you that all of these other taxes went up.

Anonymous said...

This may be a little off topic. Sorry. But I kind of wonder about the animal control in CNP. I called a couple weeks ago and reported a serious situation which was going to get checked out supposedly. I see nothing has been done. Today I call and the town receptionist told me that the only way she can get ahold of the lady is by cell. Is it only me but do you find this odd. Why can't you leave a message on a town phone. Meanwhile poor dogs continue to have nothing to eat or drink for days. Living in their own excrement in a cage that they never leave. I don't know how they sleep nights if they leave that situation. If they do it because they know the person or are friends, etc. shame and double shame on them. I guess it is kind of related to taxes as this is what we are paying for.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dean,On a personal note, I guess it is up to you if you publish my previous comment about the abused dogs. I finally did get to talk to the "Animal Control" officer, and she told me she was out there and they did not look abused! I asked her if living in their own excrement day after day is not abuse, she said maybe. When I spoke to her 2 weeks ago she told me she could remove the dogs with the by law officer if need be. Today she said she has no authority. She said she knows who owns the dogs, surprise, surprise. I said well if she can live with herself so be it. Thanks for having a blog to talk on. I really enjoy it. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Aaah, the infamous "Mountain Mentality". Sad

Anonymous said...

I hear CNP tax assessments are a shambles. Not up to date, similar land and buildings given wildly different values, acreage estates assessed at agricultural rates, land taxed as vacant which is used for business or residential.

This is supposed to be transparent:
Access to Property Assessment Information

Some municipalities have this info on the web.